Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University in Maharashtra’s Nanded has barred admissions to first-year B Sc courses in 24 affiliated colleges due to a lack of laboratories and faculty members required to run the programme. The action was taken following an Academic and Administrative Audit (AAA) of affiliated colleges.According to university authorities, admissions to the first year of the B Sc courses have been suspended for the 2026- 27 academic year, giving these colleges another year to make the required arrangements and resume admissions from the next academic year, as their affiliation continues. They are also allowed to admit students to non-BSc courses.Authorities said the decision was taken to ensure that no compromise is made on the quality of higher education. The circular issued by the university states: “During the AAA inspection, undergraduate colleges offering the B Sc programme were found to have received an ‘F’ grade.In addition, some colleges did not submit proposals for the AAA Online inspection. It was also observed that some colleges have not appointed qualified principals and faculty members. Further, certain colleges were found to lack laboratories required for conducting the B Sc programme.”Pro Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof Ashok Mahajan, said, “It began with surprise visits to a few colleges by me, during which it was found that many B Sc colleges lacked laboratories and other facilities essential for running the programme. This led to a detailed audit, which initially identified 59 such colleges. Representatives of the managements which run these colleges were called for a meeting at the university and asked to make the required arrangements as soon as possible.”Mahajan said that since 35 of them complied, first-year BSc admissions have now been suspended only in the remaining 24 colleges, for this academic year. Mahajan noted that many of them are relatively new institutions. “The process of granting affiliation to new colleges generally involves conditional approval, with the expectation that they will create the required infrastructure and facilities within a stipulated timeframe,” he said.There are around 20-25 students in each of these colleges who are currently in the second and third years of the BSc programme. Across all 24 colleges, this amounts to approximately 500 students. The university will now take steps to ensure that these students receive the practical training required as part of the B.Sc. curriculum by facilitating access to laboratories at nearby colleges having required infrastructure. As many as 150 colleges affiliated to the university offer B Sc programme.