Mumbai University: Outstation, foreign students have doubled in last 5 years

Outstation students opting for admission in top colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai (MU) is a worry for most state board students. Numbers reveal that more and more students are from the CBSE board coming from states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. This year, while over 8 lakh applicants are from the Maharashtra board, 1.03 lakh are from the CBSE board while 13,815 are from the ICSE board.

The number of outstation students as well as students studying in Mumbai University from different countries has been increasing over the past five years. File pic

"The number of outstation students as well as students studying from different countries has been increasing for the past five years and has gone up by almost 100 per cent since 2010. There can be various reasons for the same, but the fact that MU-affiliated colleges offer a wide range of courses under the same roof is a big attraction for many," said Leeladhar Bansod, MU public relations officer. He added that with options of hostels for international students also increasing, more and more students are comfortable making this switch from their home countries to Mumbai.

Time and again, colleges have stated how many students from Gujarat and Rajasthan choose vanilla courses, like BCom, only so that they could pursue other courses like Chartered Accountancy (CA) and Company Secretary (CS) along with their graduation studies. "Often, the first merit list sees students from non-state boards and cities other than Mumbai. This trend has been around for quite some years now and the numbers have gone up over the years," said Indu Shahani, principal of HR College at Churchgate.

"Many students also realise the potential of job offers is more in Mumbai college campuses, when compared to many universities in other states, and that becomes a major attraction point for students," said a professor teaching in a south Mumbai college. She added that with more and more students looking at start-ups for job opportunities, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are quickly becoming the destinations for education and future prospects.