5 private universities get nod in Karnataka; 6 in pipeline

Five entrants have joined the growing league ofprivate/deemed universities in Karnataka, with the giving the go-ahead in a notification issued on April 16.

The five universities St Josephs, New Horizon, Sri Jagadguru Murugarajendra, Vidyashilp and Atria will now be allowed to expand their campuses and launch new courses. Murugarajendra University will be based out of Chitradurga, about 200km from here, and the other four will be in Bengaluru.

As per the law, any private/deemed university applicant needs 25 acres of land and at least 3,000 students on its campus. With the newNational Education Policy, these requirements may be diluted due to the growing cost of land and increased need of practical courses.