It’s often said that Delhi University is full of paradoxes. Nothing explains this better than several of its colleges crowding the top colleges list recently released by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of Ministry of Education and still 7000 of the undergraduate seats remaining vacant. In all 10 colleges from Delhi University have secured places in the top 20 of the India Rankings 2025, with top five colleges Hindu College, Miranda House, Hans Raj College, Kirori Mal College, and St Stephen’s College, all belonging to the hoary university.
While the social media platforms have been full of accolades for whoever needs to be pestered ever since NIRF ranking came out by those seeking favours, there has been no post on why such a large number of 7000 seats are remaining vacant. Delhi University (DU) has stood as the gold standard of higher education in India. It has produced leaders in politics, academia, literature, bureaucracy, and business. Its low fees, vibrant campus culture, and tradition of intellectual ferment gave it a magnetism unmatched by most institutions in the country.
Today, DU is losing students because it is looking increasingly unremarkable. More than facing competition from the other universities which have come up, both in the private and the government sector, in the national capital region and other centres like Pune and those down South, DU is being weakened by its own lethargy.
Given the misplaced enthusiasm of university leadership to be part of one nation-one education syndrome, the whole concept of a university in itself being a universe of learning is being lost. The “universe of learning” suggests that education in a university should be limitless. It should cultivate curiosity, critical thinking, and lifelong learning rather than simply training for a profession.
Training for a skill are meant to be imparted by polytechnics. While the initial charter of Delhi University prohibits it from a being polytechnic, for the past few years it’s not been very kind on ‘limitless’ learning. University can become a universe of learning when it is a complete, diverse, and interconnected space where all kinds of knowledge is pursued, shared, and expanded without limits.
A university is also a ‘universe’ because it gathers students, teachers, and researchers into one intellectual ecosystem, where difference of opinion forms a mosaic rather than compartments. Just as the universe holds diverse elements in a single cosmos, a university should integrate diverse streams of knowledge into a shared framework of inquiry, dialogue, and discovery.
The first fundamental of a true university is its autonomy, not just in the matters of finances but also curriculum and pedagogy. In pursuit of copy pasting one nation-one education guidelines, Delhi University is increasingly losing on its novelty. What’s that different which the Delhi University can offer which other universities cannot? If not really anything then the pursuit for novelty ends which is today reflected in the vacant seats of the Delhi University colleges.
Taking the aforesaid into account, what is the way forward to arrest the decay? Work with the spirit to restore the “Universe of Learning” idea. DU should not mimic polytechnics or coaching centres. It should position itself as the hub of curiosity-driven, liberal, and critical education.
The university should go back to create institutional spaces where sciences, humanities, commerce, and arts can converge. A real “universe of learning” emerges when disciplines speak to each other. Universities thrive when differences of opinion are respected, not when they are flattened into one ideological or bureaucratic script.
DU’s leadership must articulate what makes it different in the age of one-size-fits-all higher education. What is DU’s intellectual identity? What does it offer that others cannot? Faculty, students, and alumni should be part of an honest intense deliberations of any decision-making processes rather than top-down impositions.
Rigidities in admission schedules, entrance tests, and cut-offs create artificial bottlenecks. Flexibility in timelines, credit transfers, and recognition of prior learning can bring students back. Students today want contemporary, globally relevant subjects like data science, environment studies, public policy, cultural studies, and gender studies. DU must move faster in introducing such courses, Jamia Millia Islamia did it nearly two decades ago.
Ultimately, leadership will decide whether Delhi University remains a paradox or reclaims its purpose. Rankings may bring momentary glory, but only autonomy, originality, and a renewed sense of identity can sustain relevance. If DU is to be more than a museum of its past glory, it must rediscover what it was always meant to be - a true universe of learning.