Mithibai top college choice as students dig new-age courses
But it wasn't just the college that commanded attention. The BCom degree, especially in autonomous institutions without its rigid boundaries, wore the crown this year— emblematic of a generation chasing both stability and relevance in a shifting academic landscape.
K J Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce is second, followed closely by Jai Hind College. All three are not just institutions with multiple faculties, they are legacy institutes with flexibility now pushed in by the National Education Policy (NEP), where students no longer need to colour within the lines of a single stream.
"The main reason for so many applications," says Krutika Desai, principal of Mithibai College, "is that we are a multi-faculty institution." But probe a little deeper, and what surfaces is not just breadth, but depth. It's not the usual suspects that are pulling in the crowds anymore. "The conventional science course is less popular," Desai admits. "But our new programmes like BSc in health science, BSc in applied statistics, and data science analysis are in demand.
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We offer psychology not just in BA but also in BSc. Courses such as BMM have closed at 92%. All seats across courses are full."
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At Jai Hind College—one of the city's multi-faculty hubs and the third most sought-after by applicants—the self-financed streams are tilting sharply towards BMS and BBA. These professional courses, still awaiting the start of admissions, have become the first choice for a generation chasing management dreams early.
In the humanities wing, Psychology and Economics are leading the race, mirroring trends across campuses, confirmed principal Vijay Dabholkar.
It's not just about the college's banner anymore. It's about the course, the commute, the crowd, and the career it promises to build. Dr Rajendra Singh, trustee of R Jhunjhunwala College, reads the admission data like a mosaic —each fragment a reflection of shifting student aspirations.
It's not just about scholarships, he insists. "We ensure that teaching is regular, that education happens in the classroom."
The numbers are staggering.
Mumbai University
received 12.65 lakh applications for its undergraduate courses, and more than 1.16 lakh for postgraduate ones. But the real story lies in the undercurrents. While the applications are almost evenly split between boys and girls—boys inching ahead by a few decimal places—it's the women who are quietly reshaping the postgraduate landscape, accounting for over 60% of all PG applications.
What's drawing them in isn't just legacy programmes, but a wave of new-age courses that are recalibrating the old contours of higher education. Data science and artificial intelligence—strangers to these syllabi just four years ago—are now headliners, pulling in applications that dwarf those for some timeworn degrees. One such BSc (data science) course alone clocked over 25,000 applications.
The tilt is just as visible in traditional colleges.
At Ramnarain Ruia, among Mumbai's pure arts and science institutions, psychology tops the charts, closely followed by political science and economics— subjects that, according to principal Anushree Lokur, students now see as springboards to market-ready careers. In science, too, the interest is veering toward the applied: Microbiology, biotechnology, computer science, and statistics—while the more 'core' disciplines are slowly being left in the rearview mirror.
"There is a steady decline in interest in core science courses," Lokur says.
Even heritage institutions like St Xavier's College are reading the signs. Long known for its excellence in the humanities and sciences, it has now opened its doors to commerce. "Given that Mumbai is the commercial capital of the country, we felt the need to also serve students aspiring for careers in commerce," says Rector Father Keith D'Souza. A newly minted BCom in accounting and finance is already a draw, and the junior college now runs three full commerce divisions.
Even the evening BCom programme, once designed to help migrant workers earn a degree, is being reclaimed—this time by mainstream students, choosing it not out of necessity, but preference.
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