Why has the Gujarat government announced extra admission cycles?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Gujarat government announces extra admission cycles.
- Over 2.25 lakh students have confirmed their seats.
- GCAS platform streamlines the admission process.
- Special admissions run from July 7 to July 11.
- Colleges allocate seats based on merit and locality.
Gandhinagar, June 2 (NationPress) The Gujarat government has introduced an extra special round of five admission cycles through the Gujarat Common Admission Services (GCAS) platform. This initiative comes after the conclusion of eight rounds (two phases) of counselling, which witnessed a remarkable increase in student engagement.
This announcement was made during an extensive review meeting led by Higher and Technical Education Minister Rushikesh Patel in Gandhinagar.
As per official data, by July 3, over 3.22 lakh students have been verified on the GCAS portal, with 2.97 lakh receiving admission offers.
Out of these, approximately 2.25 lakh students have confirmed their seats, reflecting a 32 percent rise compared to the 1.70 lakh admissions confirmed by the same date last year.
The GCAS serves as a consolidated online platform initiated by the Government of Gujarat to simplify and centralize the undergraduate admission process across the state's 15 government universities.
Designed for enhanced transparency, efficiency, and accessibility, GCAS allows students to register, validate documents, receive college offers based on merit, and confirm admissions — all via a single portal.
The system facilitates real-time data sharing with universities, maintains institutional autonomy in seat allocation, and provides location-based preferences to students, ensuring fair access to higher education across both rural and urban areas of Gujarat.
To guarantee that no qualified candidate is overlooked, the government has opted to keep registration open for this special round until July 3, with the admission process scheduled to run from July 7 to July 11 across five rounds.
The minister encouraged all students, particularly those who missed earlier rounds, to seize this final opportunity.
Notably, GCAS simplifies the admission procedure for 15 government universities in Gujarat. Upon registering on the portal, a student's data is sent to the relevant university, which independently manages admissions based on merit and regulations.
The state government has stated that if a student does not report to a college during the offer timeframe, it is up to the university — not the government — to determine whether to offer the seat again in subsequent rounds.
Significantly, college allocations are based on merit and locality: students are allocated seats in colleges near their chosen zones — rural students in nearby rural institutions and urban students in local city colleges, ensuring fair access across regions.