Offering a range of professional courses to students from across the country, Delhi-based Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) has expanded its reach by making its admission process online for the first time. The university is conducting online admissions for around 29,000 seats for its 150 academic programmes. There will be no offline mode of applications this year. Elaborating on the reasons for going online, GGSIPU vice chancellor Anup Singh Beniwal says, “Earlier, a number of applicants had to travel from other cities to apply here. Now, they will get access to admission forms from anywhere. By going online, we will also save a chunk of budget on printing forms. Last year, Rs. 1 crore was spent on printing brochures which will be saved this year. We are also expecting an increase in the number of applicants with the process going online from about two lakh last year to about 2.25 lakh this year.” Details of various programmes, their test codes, eligibility information etc is available on www.ipu.ac.in along with the common entrance test (CET) application forms. The cost of one CET ­application form has also been reduced from Rs. 1,100 last year to Rs. 750 this year. The university, which functions on the public-private model, will also have a strong focus on updating and consolidating its existing courses. There are 58 test codes for various programmes of the university, out of which, the university will conduct CETs for 51 test codes. The remaining seven test codes, for which there will be no CET, consist of BArch, diploma courses and some weekend programmes. For the first time, the university has decided to hold CETs for all regular programmes. Like last year, this year too, there will be online counselling for BTech and BBA programmes. Eligibility for admission to the MA course in criminology programme has been changed.  Earlier, only LLB graduates or sociology graduates were eligible. Now, graduates from all disciplines can apply. Also, there will be no CET for lateral entry to the BPharma programme. There will be a separate CET for the BSc in yoga programme. Admission to the MBBS and BDS courses will be through GGSIPU’s own CET. The BEd and BEd in special education courses will also take in students through a CET. A candidate can select and fill as many courses as he/she wants to in the same form, if all the selected courses belong to the same category. If a candidate wants to fill multiple courses across different exam categories, he/she will have to register separately for both courses. Now, the first shift of programmes will run from 7am to 3pm and the second shift from 1pm to 9pm in institutes affiliated to the university. The last date to submit application forms for the postgraduate medical courses is March 20. The deadline for submitting applications for the BArch course is July 3. For the rest of the programmes, the last date for applying is April 10. The university has 111 affiliated institutes, of which 27 belong to the Delhi government and the Centre. It has 13 schools of studies and three specialised centres. The total annual intake is about 29,000. Source: Education News