COMED-K seats are lying vacant across the state

A section of private engineering colleges in Karnataka has been unsuccessful in attracting students through the Karnataka Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges (COMED-K) entrance exam ) this year, running several universities and attending zero admissions.

In the academic year 2023-24, 20 colleges had achieved an admission rate of 80%, but this number has dropped significantly this year. Compared to last year, the number of colleges without admissions has increased. This year, 33 colleges have not enrolled a single student, while last year the number was 29. In addition, 75 colleges have admitted less than 25% of their total capacity. Only 16 colleges have managed to secure between 50% and 80% admissions, while only six colleges have achieved more than 80% enrolment.

Factors behind this decline
COMED-K has blamed this trend Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) admission process. Many students who initially get seats through COMED-K later drop out after getting seats through KCET. Additionally, out-of-state students often prefer to enroll at colleges closer to their home states, resulting in a decrease in the number of students opting for COMED-K seats year after year . Despite the inclusion of private schools under the banner of COMED-K, many of these institutions lack adequate infrastructure and some are located in rural areas. Also, several universities have not ensured good placement opportunities, which further discourages students from enrolling. Education experts have pointed to these factors as the reasons for the decline in student admissions to these universities.

There are no changes enrollment fees for PG courses
Meanwhile, the Higher Education Department of Karnataka has announced that the tuition fees for postgraduate coursesincluding MBA, MCA, ME and MTech will remain the same as last year for AY 2024-25. Normally, the department annually hikes the fees for professional courses, but this year it has decided not to implement any hike and has issued an order to continue with the previous year’s fee structure.

For government and government-aided institutions offering funded courses like MBA, MCA, ME and MTech, the state government has set an annual tuition fee of Rs 20,000. In contrast, for unaided private institutions, the tuition fee for these courses remains at Rs 57,750 per annum, with the fee for ME and MTech courses at Rs 69,300. The same tuition fees that were fixed for PG courses during AY 2023-24 will be applicable for allotment of seats, admission processes and tuition fees for AY 2024-25.

Further, the unaided institutions have to fill 50% of the total seats based on PG-CET eligibility and the remaining 50% of the seats have to be filled based on the admission test conducted by the management of the respective institutions. For MCA courses, 50% of the seats will be filled through PG-CET, and the remaining 50% will be filled based on the admission test of the institution, as per government guidelines.