Uniform entrance test to be held for private quota seats at private universities from 2025

Private universities in Karnataka agree to a uniform entrance test for professional courses, aiming for standardization and quality improvement.

Private universities have agreed to the government’s proposal to fill up seats through a uniform entrance test instead of conducting a separate entrance test for each private university to fill up 40% of private quota seats in professional courses, including engineering.

The decision was taken at the meeting held with private universities headed by M.C. Sudhakar, Minister of Higher Education, on Thursday, September 19.

Private universities will henceforth consider candidates who qualify in CET, JEE — conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and COMEDK for entry into professional courses from the academic year of 2025-26.

Speaking at a press conference at the Higher Education Council, Mr. Sudhakar said, “There are 32 private universities in Karnataka and 17 universities offering various professional courses. Each university conducts a separate entrance test for filling up its respective quota seats. Due to this, students have to write many exams in addition to being financially burdened. To avoid this, some official agencies were advised to fill up their share of seats. Otherwise, all the universities were told to form a separate consortium to conduct the examination and fill up the seats.”

The Minister also mentioned that in the coming days, the government will also consider having a common entrance test for admissions to general degree courses at private universities. “As there is no entrance test for admissions to general degree courses at the colleges and universities run by the government, we were unable to take any decision on it,” Dr. Sudhakar explained.

The high fees charged by private universities was also discussed in the meeting and universities have been directed to fix the fees by constituting a fee fixation committee headed by a retired judge. “It is there in the act of every private university and we have directed them that they must fix the fees only through the committees,” the Minister said.

The government fixes fees for the 40% government quota seats in private colleges every year.