Jalandhar: While the 2025 immigration year was challenging for companies and students seeking higher education abroad, it also brought a glimmer of hope for many local colleges, as their admissions increased by more than 30 percent. Reports suggest that Canada rejected visas for more than 60 percent of Indian students this year due to strict enrollment policies. While aspirants are busy pursuing their dreams of going abroad, many have taken admission in short courses at Punjab colleges to fill the waiting period. This has led to higher admissions at almost all local colleges.
Another positive development in colleges is the increased adherence to the National Education Policy this year. This policy allows students multiple entry and exit levels, depending on the duration of their course. Dr. Atima Sharma Dwivedi, Director of Kanya Mahavidyalaya, said, “The faster implementation of the National Population Register (NEP) and the autonomous status we have received have significantly benefited students. Education has become more innovative, evolving, research-oriented, and makes students more employable. Students are getting more internship and placement options. At least 80 percent of students passing out from our campus have secured good placements, with 11 of them securing good jobs in the US.”
Anoop Watts, Principal of KRM DAV College, Nakodar, has a slightly different take on the increase in college admissions. “The Canadian ban has helped city colleges with more admissions, but rural youth may have been more naive. Misled by travel agents, they are taking a wait-and-see mode instead of joining campuses for a makeshift arrangement.” However, some private academies that opened to offer short-term vocational courses such as beauty and wellness, cosmetology, and airline ticketing did not perform well. Many colleges had to close their operations due to low viability.
It is also somewhat disturbing that Guru Nanak Dev University has not yet allowed its affiliated colleges to collaborate with foreign universities. However, colleges affiliated with IK Gujral Punjab Technical University have this freedom, and therefore, engineering and management colleges have seen an increase in foreign student admissions. Recently, IKGPTU also launched an initiative to introduce AI-focused coursework in computer science and IT-related branches. The university also plans to launch a university-wide foundation program called “Powers of AI” for students in engineering and other science and technology streams. To this end, it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SARAS AI Institute.
The project aims to ensure that every graduate leaves campus with a working understanding of AI—not just as a technology trend, but as a practical tool that is reshaping services, manufacturing, education, healthcare, and business operations. B.Tech graduates from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology have secured excellent placements this year. Twenty-one students received offers from Google, Microsoft, and CRED, offering packages of up to ₹52,000. Another major success for the college was that one of its students scored AIR 1 in the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2025. The top scorer was Abhay Singh, a B.Tech civil engineering student. In addition to AI, engineering, and management, law courses across Jalandhar colleges are also seeing a long queue of students this year. Aman Mittal, Vice President of Lovely Professional University, stated, “Seats for courses including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Graduation in Law were the first to be filled this year.” All colleges monitor the changing preferences of students and make changes accordingly.
In 2025, staff at aided schools and colleges protested. Colleges had not received grants for salaries to staff working in covered positions for more than nine months. This caused widespread unrest among college staff and management. Several schools and colleges in Jalandhar received new heads. Dr. Ekta Khosla took over as principal of Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyalaya, replacing Dr. Ajay Sareen, who had held the position for nine years and had 36 years of teaching experience. Apeejay School also received a new principal, Yashpal Sharma. Dr. Jaspal Singh also retired as principal of Lyallpur Khalsa College. He was replaced by Dr. Suman Chopra. This year, Jalandhar had excellent results in both the JEE and NEET. Rachit Agarwal brought laurels to the city by securing an All India Rank (AIR) of 98 in the JEE-Advanced. Vinayak Kochhar, grandson of city educationist Professor CL Kochhar, had secured 141st rank in NEET this year.
Jalandhar: Visa delay forces students to move to local campus
