Nearly half of college seats vacant despite extended admission rounds

Even after the Department of Higher Education (DHE) reopened the admission portal several times for the 2025-26 academic session, a large number of seats at government, aided and self-financed degree colleges across the state remain vacant. Official figures show that 1.34 lakh seats — 1,07,590 at the undergraduate (UG) level and 26,532 at the postgraduate (PG) level — are still unfilled, raising concern among education authorities and college faculty.

As per DHE data, only 1,22,901 of 2,30,491 UG seats and 20,573 of 47,105 PG seats have been filled so far. Despite the admission window being extended till September 30, the response from aspirants has remained lukewarm. Haryana has 185 government, 97 aided and 95 self-financed degree colleges.

A closer look at the data reveals that students continue to prefer government institutions over aided and self-financed colleges. In UG courses, 37 per cent seats are vacant in government colleges, 46 per cent in aided, and as high as 69 per cent in self-financed institutions. A similar pattern is seen in PG programmes, with 33 per cent vacancies in government colleges, 67 per cent in aided and 78 per cent in self-financed institutions.

Director General (Higher Education) S Narayanan confirmed the figures and said the department plans to undertake a detailed study to understand the reasons behind the poor enrolment. He said identifying the exact cause is essential for taking corrective measures and implementing evidence-based actions to strengthen the higher education system.

In the undergraduate category, of the total 2,30,491 seats, only 1,22,901 have been filled. Government colleges offered 1,09,169 seats and filled 67,730, leaving 41,439 vacant. Aided colleges offered 79,202 seats, of which 42,390 were filled and 36,812 remained unclaimed, while self-financed institutions filled just 12,781 of their 42,120 seats, leaving 29,339 vacant.

The postgraduate situation is even bleaker. Out of 47,105 total seats, 20,573 have been filled. Government colleges offered 18,795 seats and filled 12,439, while aided colleges filled 6,079 of 18,681 seats and self-financed institutions managed just 2,055 admissions out of 9,629 seats.

Dayanand Malik, president of the Haryana Government Aided College Teachers’ Association, attributed the sharp fall in admissions to multiple factors. He said the increasing number of colleges, the growing popularity of online and distance learning courses and the trend of students opting for universities over colleges due to integrated UG–PG programmes have all contributed to the decline. “A general shift in preference towards professional courses is also one of the key reasons behind the vacant seats,” he added.