For the first time in Karnataka, the state government has imposed a ₹4 lakh penalty on a private university—St Joseph’s University—for breaching regulations related to admissions, seat increases, and launching new courses without official approval over the last two academic years.
The action follows a detailed report submitted by an expert committee set up by the Karnataka State Higher Education Council. According to the findings, the university admitted over 500 students beyond sanctioned limits and introduced more than 20 undergraduate programmes, including B.Sc (Chemistry, Microbiology, Biology) and BA (Journalism, Economics, Psychology), without clearance.
Notably, seats for popular courses like B.Com and BBA were expanded dramatically—from 120 to 510 and 200 to 304, respectively. The committee also highlighted severe infrastructure gaps, including the necessity to operate in three shifts, which violates UGC norms.
While the university had applied for approvals to launch PhD and M.Sc programmes from 2025-26, these requests were denied due to the violations discovered during inspection. Officials noted the university also failed to allocate the mandated 60% of seats to the government quota.
Higher Education Minister Dr M C Sudhakar confirmed that, although the seats and courses were regularised to protect enrolled students, the penalty was imposed as a deterrent. He warned that any complaints about similar violations in other private universities would prompt further inspections.
The university, which educates over 10,000 students, said it had yet to receive formal communication regarding the penalty.