Clockwise: St Xavier's College Mumbai, R A Podar College of Commerce and Economics, Ramnarain Ruia College (Images via official websites)As city colleges declared the first merit list for admission to Undergraduate (UG) courses on Tuesday, traditional courses such as BA and BSc continued to see their cut-offs dip. In contrast, almost all professional courses have seen an increase in cut-offs in the first list.The trend has led to colleges starting newer and more industry relevant professional courses for UG education. Taking cue from the flexibility offered in the new structure of UG courses under the National Education Policy (NEP), colleges are also planning to offer skill-oriented certification courses that students can simultaneously pursue along with their traditional UG courses.At St Xavier’s College, which is among the most popular for Arts, the first merit list cut-off for this year is 87 per cent, a considerable drop from last year’s 90 per cent. Similarly, at Ramnarain Ruia College too, for the Arts stream the cut-off has dropped from 90 percent to 85 percent this year.Whereas when it comes to professional courses offered at the same colleges, the cut-offs have increased. At Ruia College, the cut-off for Biochemistry has seen a significant jump from 64 percent last year to 81.17 percent this year. At St Xavier’s college cut-off for BAF has dropped marginally from 92 percent last year to 91 percent.Ruia College principal Dr Anushree Lokur said, “Cut-off scores of traditional courses are witnessing decline from last year with various options available to students to pursue UG education and professional UG courses are definitely a more preferred choice.”Ruia has introduced two new programmes starting this year — a BSc in Psychology and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Energy Science. It has also set up Ruia Professional Development Centre to offer skill-oriented courses such as Operation Theatre Technology, Medical Imaging Technology, and Dialysis Technology.At R A Podar College where traditional BCom course too continues to see high cut-offs, realising the importance of professional courses, it is launching two new courses BSc in Finance and AI, BCom in Management and Entrepreneurship. Prinipal Dr Vinita Pimpale said, “We already launched BBA in Shipping and Logistics last year, considering the demand for trained workforce in the industry. While as an academician, I would always say traditional courses give students a more holistic understanding of the field, the new generation is more inclined toward specific and profession-oriented courses and colleges are evolving accordingly.”Pallavi Smart is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, Mumbai Bureau. Her reporting is singularly focused on the education sector, demonstrating exceptional Expertise and Authority across the entire spectrum of learning, from foundational schooling to advanced higher education. She is a highly Trustworthy source for policy, institutional developments, and systemic issues affecting students, teachers, and parents in Maharashtra. Expertise Senior Role: As a Principal Correspondent at The Indian Express, her designation reflects her seniority, specialized knowledge, and the editorial rigor applied to her reporting. Core Authority & Specialization: Pallavi Smart is the definitive voice for Education news in the region. Her coverage scope is comprehensive: Policy and Regulatory Changes: Reports on major shifts in educational policy, including the restructuring of entrance exams (e.g., MHT-CET adopting the JEE Main model), the draft regulatory framework for coaching classes, and revised teacher recruitment processes. 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