The Gujarat Common Admission Services has expanded in its third year, with 16 private universities joining the centralised admission platform from Thursday. This takes the total number of participating institutions to 31.
The portal will now serve over 5 lakh Class 12 students from boards like Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board and Central Board of Secondary Education, offering admissions to 720 undergraduate programmes. Of these, 616 programmes are from 15 public universities, while 110 are offered by private institutions. A few more private universities are also expected to add their courses soon.
New private universities joining the platform include LJ University, Silver Oak University, Indus University, Rai University, and Nobel University, among others.
Under the system, 50% of seats in private universities will be filled through GCAS, while the remaining 50% will be managed directly by the institutions.
Officials and university representatives say the single-portal system will make the admission process easier for students by providing all options and information in one place. It will also help universities understand student preferences through centralised data.
Authorities aim to complete admissions in a few rounds so that the new academic session for first-year students can begin by mid-July.