After the completion of the third round of Common Entrance Test (CET-2025) counselling, the State government has given permission to seven new nursing colleges, and seat enhancement to 90 nursing colleges, resulting in more than 1,500 government quota nursing seats sanctioned to these colleges remaining vacant.
KEA allocates government quota seats by conducting a total of three rounds of CET counselling for medical, engineering, nursing, and other professional courses. The remaining seats after the mop-up round are returned to the respective colleges. These seats are converted into management seats by the colleges and allocated to students.
Accordingly, for the year 2025-26, a total of 32,164 nursing seats were available in 661 nursing colleges across the State, including 34 government nursing colleges, with 10,293 government quota seats and 21,871 private quota seats.
KEA completed the mop-up round seat allotment process on September 15, 2025. At that time, a total of 8,808 government quota seats were filled and 1,485 seats remained vacant. Out of the available private quota seats, only 3,821 seats were filled and 18,050 seats remained vacant.
Permission for seven new colleges
However, the State government has given permission for seven new nursing colleges after September 15, 2025 and has sanctioned 1,784 government quota seats for these colleges. In addition, it has also given permission for seat enhancement for a total of 90 nursing colleges.
“On the request of the higher authorities, we decided to conduct extended round of counselling and invited application on October 3, 2025, to fill up a total of 3,269 government quota nursing seats, including 1,485 quota seats remaining after the mop-up round and 1,784 seats available in seven new colleges. During this time, only 270 students made option entry. Again, we extended the option entry date by four days. By now, only 360 students have made option entry and seats have been allotted to them,” said H. Prasanna, Executive Director of Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA).
He further stated: “The students were not informed about the extended round conducted for nursing seats and they were not aware of this. Therefore, a large number of students have not been able to opt for seats.”
Students and parents object
Parents and students are miffed with the development.
“During the CET counselling, I did not get a government quota nursing seat in the college of my choice. So, I enrolled for the B.Sc course. However, KEA had again announced extended round counselling for filling up the seats on October 3. When I inquired about this, they said that counselling is being conducted to fill up the seats available in the newly started colleges. However, if permission had been given to the new colleges before the counselling started, I would have also got a seat in a good college. My dream of pursuing a nursing course was shattered due to the government’s negligence and granting permission for a new college beyond the deadline. The government is taking such decisions to facilitate private colleges,” alleged Kirti Prasad, a student.
“II PUC and CET results will be out in April and May. Counselling processes will start from July. In such a situation, why is the government waiting for permission for new colleges till September?” asked Paramashiva, a parent.
“It would be more beneficial for students if permission is given for new colleges in April, May, or June. The fee for government quota nursing seats is only ₹10,000, and except for a few colleges, there is huge demand for government quota seats in other colleges. The Department of Medical Education gives permission for new nursing colleges and seat enhancement on the recommendation of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). Despite requests to complete these processes at the earliest, the authorities are not responding properly. Due to this, eligible poor and meritorious students are being deprived of nursing seats,” admitted a KEA official.
Published – October 23, 2025 08:51 pm IST
