Mangaluru: As many as 23 PU colleges in Dakshina Kannada reported zero admissions this academic year. Out of the total 235 colleges in the district, officials say these institutions continue to exist only on paper, but do not operate.

All of them are unaided colleges struggling to sustain due to poor enrolment and rising maintenance costs. The district has already witnessed the closure of 15 unaided colleges in recent years, while two more have recently submitted requests for closure.

Rajeshwari, DDPU, Dakshina Kannada, said that the district currently has a total of 212 PU colleges, including aided, unaided, and govt colleges in operation. To date, a total of 15 PU colleges have shut down in the district. A total of 23 colleges, though they exist on paper, have had no admissions for many years, but continue to exist officially in records.

An official from the PU department, on why these 23 colleges have not been able to get good admissions, said that when they started in the initial years, there were manageable numbers of students and finances. “The college saw a downfall with the reduction of students, where they are not able to get enough finance in fees. The private colleges need finances to pay salaries to teaching, non-teaching staff, and other recurring costs. The reduction in admissions hits its quality, and they decide to stop admissions. The majority of colleges face this issue, and many are in line,” said the official.

The official also added that in order to get the college closed down officially, its management has to apply to the department requesting a shutdown. “Only after the department clears the closure of the college is it considered an official closure of the college,” the official added.

One of the PU colleges operating near Gurupura, which started four years ago, is now planning to stop admissions from the next academic year. Sources from the college shared that they were able to get admissions for two years after it started, but stopped after that. “This year, we have not admitted students for I PU,” the source added.>

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