More than 1,000 students have been admitted beyond the officially approved undergraduate seat capacity at the University of Dhaka (DU) over the past three academic sessions, placing increasing pressure on classrooms, laboratories, university halls and administrative services, according to an analysis of the university admission data.
The analysis, based on official records obtained from the university, compared the number of students admitted through undergraduate entrance examinations, the number of first-year readmitted students, and the approved seat allocations published in admission circulars for the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic sessions.
Data for the 2025-26 session were excluded because the first-year readmission process has not yet been completed.
Every year, DU publishes admission circulars specifying the number of seats available in each department and institute. However, the analysis found that readmitted first-year students are accommodated in addition to the newly-admitted cohort, resulting in enrolment that exceeds the officially approved capacity.
The findings show that 372 students were admitted beyond the approved capacity in the 2022-23 academic session, 426 in 2023-24, and 217 in 2024-25, bringing the total number of excess admissions to 1,015 over the three years.
Data obtained from the Registrar's Office illustrate the issue. In the 2023-24 academic session, the Department of Physics under the Faculty of Science had 100 approved seats while 98 students were admitted through the admission test, 18 students were readmitted to the first year, resulting in 116 enrolled students, 16 more than the department's approved capacity.
Similar calculations were made for every department and institute across the three academic sessions.
The university follows a different approach at the postgraduate level. In recent years, postgraduate admissions have been conducted only against vacant seats through separate admission tests, ensuring that enrolment does not exceed departmental capacity. No comparable adjustment is made for undergraduate admissions, where newly admitted and readmitted students are enrolled simultaneously.
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