Patna: Nearly 43% of postgraduate seats at Patna University (PU) remained vacant for the 2026-27 academic session. As many as 1,049 of the 2,457 sanctioned seats went unfilled despite several rounds of admissions. Academics attribute the trend to changing student preferences and the growing demand for job-oriented courses.Admission data available on the Samarth portal shows only a few programmes recorded full or near-full enrolment. Political science, PMIR, MEd, zoology and biotechnology filled all available seats, while MCA, MLIS, physics and botany also saw strong admissions.In contrast, several courses witnessed poor response from applicants. Home science filled only 6.7% of its seats, while human resource development managed just 2%. Significant vacancies were also reported in statistics, MBA, rural management, public administration, Hindi, sociology, economics, philosophy, commerce and psychology.The situation was particularly poor in language departments. Arabic attracted only two students against 18 seats, Bengali three against 20, Persian three against 18 and Sanskrit seven against 40.For Bihar’s oldest university, known for its long academic tradition and established departments, the figures have prompted questions about why students are increasingly opting for other institutions and courses despite PU’s experienced faculty and academic infrastructure.PU physics teacher Ashok Kumar Jha attributed the decline to the implementation of the four-year undergraduate programme under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. “A number of students have continued into the fourth year of the new programme and will complete their graduation only next year. They are likely to enter the one-year postgraduate programme thereafter,” he said.However, experts expressed concern over the waning interest in humanities and language studies. PU English teacher Sovan Chakraborty said the trend could have wider implications. “These departments have traditionally produced teachers, writers, researchers, journalists and civil servants and have played a crucial role in Bihar’s intellectual and cultural life,” he said.The admission figures also reflect a broader shift in student preferences. Increasingly, candidates are opting courses that promise clearer employment prospects, professional qualifications, technological skills and specialised training.A retired teacher of PU’s Hindi department said conventional postgraduate programmes, particularly in the humanities, are finding it difficult to compete with newer universities and specialised institutions that aggressively promote job-oriented courses.
