Mangaluru: Mangalore University has temporarily suspended fresh admissions to 16 postgraduate (PG) programmes for the 2026-27 academic year, citing poor enrolment, as part of measures to contain recurring expenditure, and make better use of its teaching and infrastructure resources .
The decision was taken at the Academic Council meeting for the 2026-27 academic year held on Tuesday, with the university fixing a minimum enrolment threshold of 15 students, for a postgraduate programme to be continued. “We require a minimum enrolment of 15 students to operate these programmes. Because of taking such hard decisions,” he said, our financial stability today has come.
Vice-chancellor PL Dharma said the decision was aimed at reducing the financial burden arising from the engagement of guest faculty for programmes with very few students. Prof Dharma said the university could not continue programmes with very low enrolment at the cost of its financial sustainability. “We cannot run a programme with just two or three students; it is not viable and the govt has not permitted us to do that,” he said.
Programmes that have attracted single-digit enrolment or no students, have consequently been kept out of the admission process this academic year. Environmental science recorded zero applicants, while statistics and materials science have reportedly been operating without viable student numbers for the past three years. Many of these departments are run entirely by guest faculty, meaning we are compelled to pay full-year salaries even without students. The vice-chancellor added the university also had a responsibility to ensure that public funds were used efficiently. At the same time, the university is exploring a ‘school system’ to ensure that specialised academic disciplines can be retained while making more efficient use of faculty, laboratories and other infrastructure. Under the proposed approach, allied departments can be brought together, and their available human and physical resources can be shared. The university is also considering similar changes in other departments with low enrolment, to balance academic needs with available funds and infrastructure.