Exploring Student Population At Delhi University

Delhi University, also known as DU, is one of the most sought-after central universities in India, with students from across the country and abroad flocking to the university every year. In the 100 years since it was founded in 1922, the university has grown from just 750 students to being one of India's largest universities with 16 faculties, 86 academic departments, 91 colleges, and over 132,000 regular students. The university offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, with a total of around 240 courses available. The number of students enrolled in Delhi University colleges has been increasing over the years, with data from the Ministry of Education showing that there were 299,597 students in 2021, a significant increase from the previous year.

Undergraduate admissions

The university has recently shifted to a CUET-based admission process, and candidates who have passed their Class 12 are now eligible to apply. The selection process consists of six major steps:

• DU CUET Registration: Registrations for CUET usually commence in the last week of February. Candidates must fill out the application form online.
• Appear for the CUET exam: Candidates who have registered for CUET are required to appear for the exam in the subject of their choice and obtain a valid score.
• DU CSAS Registration: After the CUET results are declared, candidates must register on the DU Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) portal and submit their college and course preferences.
• DU CSAS Counselling Process: The university releases DU CSAS seat allocation lists for all categories. Candidates can either accept the allocated seat or wait for subsequent rounds of seat allocation.
• Final Seat Confirmation: Once a candidate accepts the allocated seat, the concerned college will verify their eligibility and documents. The candidate must then pay the admission fee to confirm their seat.
• Upgradation: Candidates who are not satisfied with their allocated seat can opt for upgradation in subsequent rounds of seat allocation.

The total tuition fee for undergraduate courses at DU ranges from INR 432 to INR 38 lakh. The specific fee varies depending on the course and the affiliated college.

Postgraduate admissions

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is the primary mode of admission for postgraduate courses at Delhi University. Registrations for the CUET usually begin in April, with the exam taking place over July and August. The academic year typically starts in November, with the university releasing the academic calendar for postgraduate programmes beforehand.

Delhi University has 16 faculties, 86 academic departments, and 91 colleges spread across the city. The North Campus and South Campus serve as the two main campuses, with the former hosting the School of Open Learning, faculties of Arts, Law, Management Studies, and Technology, and 16 colleges. The South Campus, established in 1973, is located on 69 acres of green, hilly terrain and is home to 25 colleges.

The total number of students enrolled in postgraduate programmes across the university is over 17,000.

History of Delhi University

The University of Delhi, or Delhi University (DU), is a collegiate research central university located in Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council that governed British raj-era India. At the time, there were only four colleges in Delhi: St. Stephen's College, Hindu College, Zakir Husain Delhi College (then known as The Delhi College), and Ramjas College. All of these colleges were affiliated with the University of Punjab but subsequently became affiliated with DU.

DU initially had two faculties (Arts and Science) and approximately 750 students. The university has since grown into one of the largest universities in India, with 16 faculties, 86 academic departments, and 91 colleges spread across the city. The total number of students enrolled at DU is approximately 700,000, including both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The university offers a wide range of courses and programmes, including undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma, and certificate courses.

The university is governed by a governing body with honorary positions occupied by the President of India as the visitor, the Vice President as the chancellor, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as the pro vice-chancellor. DU has two main campuses: the North Campus and the South Campus, with plans to construct two additional campuses in East and West Delhi. The North Campus houses the three founding colleges, while the South Campus consists of a collection of colleges located in different neighbourhoods of South Delhi. The university also has several prominent institutions affiliated with it, including schools of medicine, nursing, education, agriculture, and technology.

Over the years, DU has produced many distinguished alumni in various fields, including politics, literature, science, and cinema. Notable alumni in Indian politics include Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley, and Shashi Tharoor. World leaders such as Aung San Suu Kyi and Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq have also studied at DU. Other notable alumni include authors Anita Desai and Amitav Ghosh, as well as actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.

Faculties and departments

Delhi University has 16 faculties, 86 academic departments, and 91 colleges spread across the city. The 16 faculties are:

• Faculty of Applied Social Sciences and Humanities
• Faculty of Commerce and Business Studies
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Interdisciplinary and Applied Sciences
• Faculty of Management Studies
• Faculty of Mathematical Sciences
• Faculty of Medical Sciences
• Faculty of Music and Fine Arts
• Faculty of Open Learning
• Faculty of Social Sciences
• Faculty of Technology
• Affiliated Faculty of Ayurvedic and Unani Medicine
• Affiliated Faculty of Homoeopathic Medicine

The Faculty of Open Learning is concerned with distance education. The Faculty of Technology used to offer courses in Engineering and Technology, but now focuses on Computer, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering.

The Faculty of Applied Social Sciences and Humanities includes the Department of Finance and Business Economics, while the Faculty of Commerce and Business Studies includes the Department of Commerce. The Faculty of Education includes the Department of Education, and the Faculty of Interdisciplinary and Applied Sciences includes the Departments of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Microbiology. The Faculty of Management Studies includes the Department of Business Management and Industrial Administration. The Faculty of Mathematical Sciences includes the Departments of Computer Science, Mathematics, Operational Research, and Statistics. The Faculty of Medical Sciences includes the Departments of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Anatomy, and Medical Biochemistry. The Faculty of Music and Fine Arts includes the Departments of Music and Fine Arts. The Faculty of Open Learning includes the School of Open Learning, and the Faculty of Social Sciences includes the Departments of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension, and African Studies. Finally, the Faculty of Technology includes the Departments of Applied Sciences and Humanities, Architecture and Planning, and Civil Engineering.

Notable alumni

Delhi University has produced many notable alumni in a variety of fields, including politics, arts and entertainment, humanities and social sciences, business, and science. Here are some of the most prominent alumni:

Politics

Delhi University has educated nine heads of state and government, including:

• Narendra Modi, the 14th Prime Minister of India
• Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• Rahul Gandhi, a member of the Indian Parliament and son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second President of India
• Arun Jaitley, former Finance Minister of India
• Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament and noted writer
• Kiran Bedi, retired Indian Police Service officer and social activist
• Subramanian Swamy, politician, economist, and statistician
• Sheila Dikshit, former Chief Minister of Delhi
• Maneka Gandhi, politician, animal rights activist, and environmentalist
• Sachin Pilot, Indian politician and former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan
• Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, sixth President of Pakistan

Arts and Entertainment

The university has also produced several notable actors, filmmakers, writers, and models, including:

• Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood actor
• Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood actor
• Manoj Bajpayee, Indian actor
• Konkona Sen Sharma, Indian actress and director
• Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor and former model
• Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
• Arjun Rampal, Indian actor and model
• Aditi Rao Hydari, Indian actress
• Neha Dhupia, Indian actress and model
• Huma Qureshi, Indian actress and model
• Mallika Sherawat, Indian actress
• Rajkummar Rao, Indian actor
• Anurag Kashyap, Indian filmmaker and actor
• Gauri Khan, Indian film producer and fashion designer
• Shriya Saran, Indian actress
• Kabir Khan, Indian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
• Ali Abbas Zafar, Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter
• Mira Nair, Indian-American filmmaker
• Shekhar Kapur, Indian filmmaker and actor

Humanities and Social Sciences

• Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director of Economics at the IMF
• Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice-president and Chief Economist of the World Bank
• Ramachandra Guha, historian, environmentalist, and writer
• Veena Das, professor of anthropology at Johns Hopkins University
• Meera Khanna, gender rights activist

Business

• Vaibhav Taneja, CFO of Tesla
• Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank
• Arnab Goswami, managing director and editor-in-chief of Republic Media Network

Science

• Archana Bhattacharyya, physicist
• Vinod Dham, engineer and "father of the Pentium processor"
• Charusita Chakravarty, chemist
• Amitava Raychaudhuri, particle physicist
• Vinod Krishan, astrophysicist
• Sangeeta Malhotra, astrophysicist
• Yogi Goswami, engineer
• B. K. Misra, neurosurgeon
• Sanjukta Deb, biomaterials researcher

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