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. Programmes that have attracted single-digit enrolment or no students, have consequently been kept out of the admission process this academic year.The 16 programmes are analytical chemistry, electronics, cyber security, master of education (MEd), sociology, MCom in human resource development, biosciences, master of communication and journalism (MCJ), Tulu, Hindi, Konkani, Sanskrit, statistics, environmental science, materials science, and geoinformatics.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. Environmental science recorded zero applicants, while statistics and materials science have reportedly been operating without viable student numbers for the past three years.In some departments, existing students will continue to complete their programmes. In sociology, the ongoing final-year batch will be allowed to continue until completion, while fresh admissions for the upcoming batches have been stopped.Prof Dharma said the university could not continue programmes with very low enrolment at the cost of its financial sustainability. “We require a minimum enrolment of 15 students to operate these programmes. Many of these departments are run entirely by guest faculty, meaning we are compelled to pay full-year salaries even without students. Our financial stability today has come because of taking such hard decisions,” he said.The vice-chancellor added the university also had a responsibility to ensure that public funds were used efficiently. “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.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.Prof Dharma said that higher education minister Basvaraj Rayareddi had suggested clubbing allied departments as part of the restructuring exercise.“In line with this, we have already merged the department of marine geology and the department of geography to pool faculty and laboratory resources together,” he said.The university is also considering similar changes in other departments with low enrolment, to balance academic needs with available funds and infrastructure.
