Gujarat University Admissions 2025: Over 50% Seats Remain Vacant as Academic Session Begins

The Gujarat Common Admission System (GCAS) has not delivered the expected results in its rollout year as many students, especially from rural areas or disadvantaged backgrounds, struggled with the digital-only process, leading to missed deadlines and confusion.
Even as the new academic session for undergraduate programmes at Gujarat University (GU) commenced on July 1, over 50% of the total seats remain vacant, triggering concern among stakeholders across affiliated colleges.
Colleges affiliated to Gujarat University have reported alarmingly low enrolments, with some institutions admitting as few as 15 to 20 students in entire programmes. According to officials, the issue stems from a combination of a flawed online-only admission system, delays in implementation, and lack of offline counselling or spot admission rounds.
The Gujarat Common Admission System (GCAS), introduced to centralise the UG admission process, has not delivered the expected results in its rollout year. College principals said many students, especially from rural areas or disadvantaged backgrounds, struggled with the digital-only process, leading to missed deadlines and confusion.
“We have nearly 100 seats but fewer than 25 students have joined,” said a faculty member from an Ahmedabad-based college. “We need urgent intervention to fill up the vacant seats, or our academic and financial planning for the year will collapse.”
Reserved Seats Going Vacant: Request to Merge with General Category
Compounding the problem, a large number of reserved category seats have gone unclaimed. Principals of affected colleges have approached the university, requesting permission to transfer these seats to the general category, hoping to salvage some enrolment.
However, there has been no official communication yet from the university authorities on whether such a category shift will be allowed.
Admissions Without Offline Backup Draw Criticism
Critics of the GCAS portal said the absence of any offline admission window significantly reduced accessibility. Many students who lacked digital literacy or did not receive adequate information were unable to complete the admission formalities in time.
Student groups and education activists have demanded that the university initiate at least one offline or spot round, especially for government and grant-in-aid colleges, to fill the massive seat gap before it's too late.
Academic, Financial Implications for Colleges
Admissions at Gujarat University are based on entrance exam or aggregate in Class 12. The selection requirements varies course-wise. Check below the Gujarat University admission process 2025-
1. Application Process
The application process consists of first filling out the online application form from the University's official website and paying the application fee.
2. Selection Rounds
Students have to check what the eligibility criteria is for the course they want. For eg., MBA and PhD course require candidates to appear for an entrance exam, such as CMAT, whereas for UG diploma, BA, and BDes course, students are only needed to pass the merit criteria which is a certain percent of marks in Class 12.
3. Counselling & Admission Confirmation
After completion of the selection rounds, aspirants are required to come for counselling and document verification. For MBA, ACPC Counselling is required. Shortlisted aspirants need to confirm their seat by paying the fee.
Admission to MSc is based on the merit in the last qualifying exam.
With enrolment below 50% in many cases, colleges are staring at severe academic and financial challenges. Fewer students mean underutilized faculty, reduced government funding based on enrolment, and possible cutbacks in course offerings or extracurricular activities.
“We can’t offer elective subjects or full-fledged labs if student numbers are this low,” said a principal of a government-aided college. “This not only affects faculty workload but also limits student exposure.”
What’s Next?
As pressure mounts on Gujarat University to take corrective action, stakeholders are calling for:
A final offline admission round to fill remaining seats
Reworking the GCAS model to improve accessibility and support
Better outreach to rural and first-generation learners
Allowing inter-category seat conversion, especially for unfilled SC/ST/OBC seats
If the seat vacancy crisis persists, it could impact thousands of students who depend on Gujarat University’s network of colleges for affordable, quality education.
The vacant seat crisis at Gujarat University highlights the pitfalls of a poorly executed centralised admission system. Without urgent remedial measures—particularly an offline admission opportunity—the 2025-26 academic year may see record-low enrolments, depriving both students and institutions of the opportunity to grow and thrive.
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No, the Gujrat University does not offer direct admission for many mainstreams programmes. Candidates need to fulfil the eligibility criteria for each course to get admission. For some courses, such as MBA and PhD, candidates may require to qualify for entrance exams. However, admission to courses such as UG Diploma, BA, BPA, and BDes, is based on the aspirant's marks in the last qualifying examination. Hence, for UG courses in which admission is merit-based, candidates aggregate in Class 12 is considered for selection. Graduation is required for getting admission to PG courses.