Mumbai: Mumbai University’s (MU) traditional revenue streams are shrinking, and on multiple fronts. An increasing number of colleges affiliated with the university are going autonomous, or breaking away entirely to form cluster and private universities, cutting off the recurring affiliation and examination fees they once contributed to the university’s revenue. The enrollment at the university’s Centre for Open and Distance Learning, a low-cost revenue source, has also dropped significantly in recent years.A definitive indicator could be the number of TYBCom students, the largest cohort among all courses, appearing for the university exams over the years. There was a time when more than 80,000 students would take the university’s final-year BCom exams. University data shows that 74,863 students appeared for the final exams in 2018 alone. This year, in March, the number stood at 45,758, a nearly 40% decline over eight years.A university senate member said there could be a broader decline in traditional commerce enrolment across colleges as students increasingly opt for allied courses such as BMS and BAF, as well as other popular self-financed programmes. “The decline, however, appears significant because several larger colleges are becoming autonomous. Colleges with traditionally large commerce cohorts, such as Jai Hind, NM, Mithibai, Sydenham and HR, are no longer contributing to the university’s revenue like before as they have either become autonomous or are now part of separate universities,” said the member. The autonomous colleges offering higher education courses under MU alone rose from 62 in 2023 to 135 now, in just four years.Affiliated colleges are expected to pay a recurring affiliation fee of Rs 50,000 annually for every unaided programme they offer. Once they become autonomous, this fee is waived off. Since autonomous colleges conduct their own exams, the university also cannot seek examination fees from its students. The university, however, takes 25% of this fee, which many colleges are opposed to.An educationist, however, said the university could not be blamed for the decline in revenue as this transformation is part of a broader policy-driven shift. “Central govt policies are making it easier for colleges to become independent entities, while public universities are increasingly expected to focus on research and academic reforms rather than functioning as examination-conducting bodies. More colleges are likely to seek university status in the near future. Universities, therefore, need to devise alternative mechanisms to generate revenue and remain financially sustainable,” he said.“Not just IITs, but faculty from the Institute of Chemical Technology, which was part of MU, also manages to raise funds through consultancy projects with industries,” added the educationist.With increasing numbers of private institutions offering distance and online programmes in a more structured manner, MU is also losing out on enrolment in its Centre for Distance and Online Education. Over 80,000 students were enrolled at the centre in the early 2020s, but the number plummeted to 24,000 last year. “In the last few years, the proliferation of such programmes in private institutions has given students newer options. The university, on the other hand, is unable to run the programmes smoothly. Students regularly complain of not getting study material on time, there are not enough teachers, exams are riddled with errors and results are delayed,” said a senate member.A govt official said it would be unfortunate if public universities have to bank only on affiliation and examination fees for their revenue stream. Recently, the state govt also drafted a patent policy to help universities take their research to the stage of commercialisation. Over the last 10 years, the deficit projected in the annual budget at the university has more than doubled. A university official said that every expenditure, from salaries to even relatively small expenses meant for daily commute, has increased over the past decade. “Ten years ago, we were following the Sixth Pay Commission; we are now under the Seventh Pay Commission. The rate of inflation has also risen significantly, pushing up the university’s overall expenditure,” he said.
