Delhi University is set to roll out a series of academic reforms under the National Education Policy (NEP), bringing noticeable changes to how courses are structured and delivered. From a four-year undergraduate programme to a one-year postgraduate degree, proposed semester-away options and new route towards the direct PhD admission, the university is gradually moving towards a more flexible academic system. While the administration sees the changes as a step towards modernising higher education, students and teachers say that the transition has led to confusion and an uneven implementation.
Among the most significant changes is the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), which is now fully operational. The final year places greater emphasis on research and offers an Honours with research pathway, alongside multiple academic options. The framework is supported by a multiple-entry-and-exit system, allowing students to take a year break and re-enter while retaining their earned credits.
For the first FYUP cohort, around 72,000 students were eligible to continue into the fourth year. While initial opt-in figures were considerably higher, reports indicated that fourth-year continuation stopped at around 30%.
The variation between colleges was also significant. Reported enrolment ranged from around 13% at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce to nearly 50% at Dyal Singh College, while institutions such as Lady Shri Ram College, Miranda House and Hindu College recorded participation in the 30% range.
The relatively small fourth-year cohorts have raised concerns among faculty over the feasibility of sustaining separate classes and the additional academic infrastructure required for these students. The issue is significant because the fourth year is also the gateway to several of the university’s other new academic pathways, including the one-year postgraduate programme and the direct PhD.
Opportunity or concern area
For some students, the fourth year represents an opportunity to begin research early and work closely with faculty.
One of the fourth-year students, Mayank Dev, said that he is getting to work with the faculty right after the graduation, which is a good experience. He added that it would save him the trouble of moving between colleges for a master’s degree and research. But not all students viewed the new pathways in the same way.
A third-year student, Supriya, said, “I think the idea behind FYUP, research and the Semester Away Programme is good, but implementation matters. Students with financial resources may be able to take advantage of international exchanges and other opportunities more easily. At the same time, the fourth year can be valuable for students who want to pursue research.
These reforms depend on how accessible and well-supported they are.” The university has also placed greater emphasis on integrating research at the undergraduate level through closer collaboration between faculty and students. Revised policies, including more flexible fee refund norms, aim to support student mobility within the new system. However, the relatively low participation in the fourth year remains a concern among some faculty members.
Mithuraaj Dhusiya, elected member of the executive council, University of Delhi, said, “Both NEP UGCF and PGCF suffer from serious flaws in terms of structure, content and philosophy. Concerns are the erosion of core content of courses, opaque syllabus creation, frequent last-minute notifications and changes, poor infrastructure and shortage of manpower. Although the NEP talks about a research-driven curriculum, the research aptitude of students is undermined through an extended engagement with useless skill enhancement courses, he said.
“Fourth year as a concept has failed, with the majority of students hardly continuing after the third year. With dwindling 4th-year classes, where will be the takers for 1-year PG? NEP has ended up creating instability in the undergraduate and postgraduate teaching-learning process.”
Grey area of one-year PG course
The low fourth-year participation feeds directly into another major reform, the introduction of a one-year postgraduate programme for students graduating from the four-year undergraduate course.
The programme technically creates a faster route to a master’s degree and is intended to expand postgraduate opportunities for FYUP graduates. However, members of the executive council and academic council have questioned whether there will be a sufficiently large pool of students for the programme if a majority opt to exit after three years.
Professor Rudrashish Chakraborty from Kirori Mal College and also a member of the Democratic Teachers Front said, “The four-year undergraduate framework, in particular, has seen a noticeable drop in student participation in the final year.”
The administration, however, stated that the response to the one-year postgraduate programme has been encouraging. Professor Rajni Abbi, director of the south campus and professor of law faculty who is also the executive council member, said, “Transformation and growth take time; they are rarely immediate or seamless. There was some uncertainty and even reluctance in the initial stages, but the change has unfolded gradually as the system settled into place.”
The administration, she said, hadn’t anticipated an overwhelming response on the one-year postgraduate programme. The varsity has witnessed remarkable improvement in its infrastructure, and in the next two years, two to three new buildings will further ease space constraints, she said.
Faculty strength, too, has grown significantly with numerous appointments made over the past five years under the current V-C. While some confusion persists, it is a natural part of any large-scale reform. Change of this magnitude inevitably takes time to stabilise and be fully understood.”
Route to research
Research is at the centre of the fourth-year model. The university believes that FYUP gives better exposure to undergraduate students with closer contact with faculty and development of research skills earlier.
Professor Payal Mago, director of the Campus of Open Learning and a member of the academic council, said, “As per UGC norms, faculty have a 40-hour workload, of which about 16 hours are dedicated to teaching, while the remaining time is meant for research and allied academic work.
Many professors in colleges are actively engaged in research and have, in fact, produced substantial work over the years, often publishing around ten quality papers to qualify for promotion to professorship. Given this, it is difficult to argue that there is a lack of research infrastructure in the university.”
Mago said that disciplines such as commerce, social sciences and languages did not always require extensive laboratory infrastructure, unlike the sciences, where specialised equipment was essential. She pointed to the university’s research output as evidence that faculty had been able to undertake meaningful work despite such constraints. “The vice-chancellor has also assured that any additional infrastructure required will be provided. Rather than viewing this as a constraint, it should be seen as an opportunity to strengthen research, especially with Gen Z students who bring fresh perspectives and skills,” she added.
However, Rajesh Jha, a DU professor, said, “The privatisation and contractualisation are the driving force behind all the reforms imposed in the name of NEP. The reforms have been introduced without taking care of basic requirements – funds; additional teachers and students, especially SC, ST, OBC and EWS.” However, the university has also moved towards creating a direct route from the four-year undergraduate programme to PhD admission.
The direct PhD admission amendment outlines eligibility criteria for students seeking direct admission to PhD programmes through the four-year undergraduate pathway. Applicants must have successfully completed a four-year undergraduate programme. A minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 7.5 is mandatory, and only those meeting or exceeding this threshold will be considered eligible to apply.
Research output is the key requirement. The varsity said candidates must have their undergraduate research project or dissertation published in a Scopus-indexed journal, which includes peer-reviewed academic publications.
However, the provision has also faced opposition within the executive council. On the day of the EC meeting, a dissent note was shared by one of the professors. EC member Mithuraaj Dhusiya opposed direct PhD entry, citing inadequate research preparation, gaps in core knowledge, premature specialisation and the absence of entrance tests or interviews to assess academic preparedness.
Questions of flexibility
The university is also considering a semester-away programme, which would enable undergraduate students to spend a term at partner institutions, including those abroad, to broaden their academic exposure.
Office-bearers said that the university actively promotes exchange mobility, allowing students to study for a semester or a year. DU has numerous Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with foreign universities, particularly in Europe and Asia, to facilitate these exchange programmes. The MOUs can waive tuition fees at the host university, but students need to cover accommodation and travel costs.
The faculty, however, believes such programmes could raise questions about accessibility and whether students from different economic backgrounds will be able to benefit equally. The reforms have also included multiple entry and exit, continuous assessment, interdisciplinary and credit-based learning and revised fee refund norms. The university had clarified that these measures are intended to make the academic system more flexible and student-centric.
Speaking to the newspaper, the Registrar of the University of Delhi, Dr Vikas Gupta, said, “The University of Delhi is the first university of its size and expanse in terms of the number of its students and the wide diversity of its programmes and disciplines to implement the National Education Policy 2020. Therefore, the steps it takes for the implementation of NEP are a pioneering step in itself. Shifting to a new academic structure, which is focused on student centricity, a multidisciplinary approach, holistic education, employability, research and innovation, is meant to bring a lot of changes. Any change entails a phase of transition, which requires an element of flexibility to accommodate and adapt to the changing needs.”
He said faculty members needed to be regularly updated on university notifications to ensure a smooth transition during the first cycle of the FYUP and to communicate changes to students promptly. “Delays could lead to confusion and uneven implementation,” he added. Research and entrepreneurship components were introduced in the fourth year for the first time in 2025-26, he noted, adding that colleges had demonstrated research capacity through UG students’ publications in Scopus-indexed journals. Research support, he said, would need to be strengthened as fourth-year participation grows. “The University of Delhi is taking bold steps for the transformation of higher education. It might become a model for replication in future,” he said.
DU is not alone in implementing NEP reforms, but the pace and sequencing have varied across other central universities. Jamia Millia Islamia is moving into the multiple-entry phase of its four-year undergraduate programme and plans to introduce one-year postgraduate programmes from 2026 to ‘27. JNU has adopted the four-year structure only in select programmes and continues to offer both one-year and two-year postgraduate options. The staggered rollout makes DU an early test case for how NEP’s new academic pathways work in practice.
Reforms introduced
One-year PG programme: For students completing the four-year undergraduate course, offers a faster route to a Master’s degree and expands postgraduate intake.
Semester Away Programme: Aims to allow undergraduate students to spend a semester at foreign universities for global exposure and academic mobility
FYUP consolidation: The four-year undergraduate programme is now fully operational, with a research-focused fourth year and honours with research option
Multiple entry-exit system: Students can exit after 1, 2, or 3 years and re-enter later, with their earned credits remaining valid
Continuous assessment reforms: Greater emphasis on internal evaluation, assignments, attendance and tutorials, reducing dependence on end-semester exams
Direct PhD: Delhi University allows direct PhD admission for students who complete a Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP)
Flexible fee refund norms: Revised policies allow students to withdraw within a stipulated time with minimal financial loss
Interdisciplinary, credit-based curriculum: Students can choose majors, minors, skill courses and electives across disciplines, promoting holistic learning
Faculty arguements
Direct entry to PhD after the fourth year: It defies academic rationale, as students do not develop sufficient research acumen during their UG programme to bypass a PG degree and undertake the rigours of doctoral research without adequate training.
One-year PG in colleges: This is seen as a sop to incentivise students to enrol in the fourth year and to encourage teachers to take on PG classes beyond their stipulated workload. The programme also fails to account for the infrastructural constraints of colleges.
Semester-away programme: It risks rewarding students who can afford it, thereby creating socio-economic divisions within the diverse classroom space.
Step towards autonomy: These reforms are seen as part of a broader plan to dismember the University of Delhi and pave the way for its constituent colleges to become autonomous by 2030. Colleges would then have to fend for themselves financially, potentially forcing them to charge exorbitant fees to recover costs.