Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s College has filled nearly all its unreserved seats across undergraduate courses in the first round of seat allocation, according to the university’s Dean of Admission, Haneet Gandhi. The remaining seats, reserved for Christian candidates under the college’s minority quota, are currently being filled. St. Stephen’s College offers 450 seats across 11 undergraduate programs.
The conclusion of the first round of seat allocation at Delhi University (DU) saw over 59,100 students securing their seats by paying fees. The admission process at St. Stephen’s College was contentious for several months due to a legal dispute over the university’s admission policy. Admissions at the college only began after a Supreme Court order earlier this month, which resolved the conflict between the college and DU.
The legal tussle revolved around the admission criteria for non-minority students. While St. Stephen’s College sought to give 85% weightage to CUET (Common University Entrance Test) scores and 15% to interviews, the Delhi High Court, and subsequently the Supreme Court, upheld DU’s policy requiring 100% weightage to CUET scores. The court’s refusal to stay the high court’s order led to the implementation of DU’s admission policy at St. Stephen’s College.
“In the first round of seat allocation, all the unreserved seats, which are over 200, have been filled,” said Haneet Gandhi, Dean of Admission at DU. She further noted that the college is now proceeding with admissions for the remaining seats reserved for Christian candidates, based on interviews. “We have provided data to the college, and they are conducting the admissions based on interviews,” she added.
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This year, DU switched to admitting students through CUET scores instead of Class 12 marks for undergraduate programs. The move was intended to standardize admissions across colleges under DU and ensure a fair evaluation process.
The DU admission process for the current academic session began last month, offering over 70,000 seats across various colleges and courses. The university released its Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) policy on September 12, which outlines the admission process in three phases: submission of the application form, selection of programs and preferences, and finally, seat allocation and admission.
The first round of admissions through CSAS ended on Tuesday, with Registrar Vikas Gupta confirming that approximately 59,100 candidates had paid their fees and secured spots in various undergraduate programs. Tuesday was also the last day for students to confirm their admissions by paying the required fees for their allotted college and course.
As the admission process continues, St. Stephen’s College will complete its minority admissions and DU will proceed with further rounds of seat allocation for any remaining vacancies across its colleges.
