New Delhi: Delhi University (DU) has been offering undergraduate students the option to exit their courses at multiple stages and return later without losing academic credits in cases of financial, health or personal difficulties. But four years after the provision was introduced under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, most students continue to prefer the traditional three-year degree, with data showing mass dropout before the optional fourth year.The findings emerge from the university data obtained by TOI, which shows that only a small fraction of students used the formal exit provisions since the rollout of four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP). In contrast, a significant share of eligible students chose not to enrol for the fourth year, raising questions about whether the research-focused extension is serving its intended purpose.TOI spoke to principals and administrators across some of DU’s most sought-after colleges as well as off-campus institutions and found almost no formal exits after the first or second year, despite students being eligible to leave with a certificate or diploma and rejoin later by redeeming their accumulated credits. Instead, students continue to stay on till the third year, suggesting that the traditional bachelor’s degree remains the minimum qualification most associate with employability.The major attrition is taking place not after the first or second year, where the flexibility was intended to help students navigate interruptions in education, but before the fourth year. In colleges such as LSR, Miranda House, Hindu and Sri Venkateswara College, 60-70% of students from the first Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) batch did not opt for the fourth year. LSR retained about 380 students from a batch of 1,100, Miranda 600 from 1,600, Hindu 300 from 1,000 and Venkateswara 405 from 1,289.The retention is even lower in some colleges. Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College reported only about 130 students staying back for the fourth year from a batch of nearly 1,000 while in Maharaja Agrasen College, about 250 students from a batch of 830 continued. Dayal Singh College reported nearly 1,000 students in the fourth year from an original batch of 2,000 while Daulat Ram College retained about 480 students from a batch of nearly 1,500.Two colleges that DU has repeatedly flagged for low admissions and vacant seats — Bhagini Nivedita College and Aditi Mahavidyalaya — said their proportional retention in the fourth year is higher due to lower batch strength. Aditi Mahavidyalaya’s principal Neelam Rathu claimed 70-80% retention in the fourth year and no exits after the first or second year, while Ruby Mishra, the principal of Bhagini Nivedita, said the college’s strength is about 1,050 students, out of whom 150 are enrolled in the fourth year.“Students are still used to the idea of a three-year undergraduate programme. They can get jobs after that, so there may be some reluctance to opt for the fourth year. The data is also peculiar at this stage. The actual usefulness of the system can be assessed only after two or three batches have graduated,” said Sri Venkateswara College principal Vajala Ravi.Data on how many students have actually availed the re-entry provision after leaving midway is not yet available, as the batch currently graduating is the first cohort under DU’s FYUP. College authorities said a clearer picture of the provision’s uptake is likely to emerge only after the next admission cycle begins.Principals attributed the negligible uptake of the early-exit provisions partly to low awareness and the novelty of the system.Ramjas principal Ajay Arora said the college received only one formal exit request after the first year, from a student who secured admission elsewhere. “The student left without availing the diploma certificate. At that time, the modalities for implementing the multiple entry-exit system were also not finalised by the university. Even today, many students leave without availing these options because awareness remains low,” he said. The college has retained only 30% of its original batch in the fourth year.According to Hindu College principal Anju Srivastava, “The utility of the certificates awarded after these stages (first and second year) is not very clear from an employability perspective. Many students, therefore, leave without formally informing the college.”Under the FYUP framework, students exiting after one year receive a certificate, after two years a diploma, after three years a bachelor’s degree and after four years an honours or honours-with-research degree. Those obtaining a three-year degree are eligible for a two-year MA, while the duration is one year for FYUP graduates. Dropouts can continue to their education from where they left by re-entering the same programme without appearing by fresh entrance exams. They are required to be accommodated over and above sanctioned intake of the college.The findings have also thrown up another question: who is choosing to stay back for the fourth year?According to college authorities, those continuing are largely students planning to pursue postgraduate studies, research or academia. For many others, a three-year degree is still seen as sufficient for entering the job market or pursuing further studies, limiting the appeal of an additional year on campus.However, faculty members said not everyone opting for the fourth year necessarily has a research inclination, raising questions about whether the research-focused component of FYUP is attracting the intended cohort.Professor Pankaj Garg, a faculty member at Rajdhani College who guides fourth-year students at DU, said there is currently no benchmark or screening mechanism governing the transition from the third to the fourth year.“It is important to understand who is staying back in the fourth year as much as who is leaving. Students with back papers, those preparing for competitive exams, or those who have not secured admission elsewhere may also opt for the fourth year. Very few who are genuinely interested in research are actually opting for it. There is a risk of diluting the purpose of this stage of FYUP,” he said.Garg suggested that the university consider introducing academic benchmarks for entry into the fourth year to ensure that the cohort remains research-oriented and the quality of undergraduate research is maintained.
