Seven newly-created central universities have come together to hold a combined entrance examination from this year for admission of students in about 25 courses being offered by them. These institutions are central Universities of Kashmir, Jharkhand, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The combined entrance exam is the first of its kind exercise being conducted by the central universities in the country. At present, the IITs and IIMs are holding similar combined entrances for admission. "This will provide opportunity to the aspiring students in any part of the country to apply for any of the seven Central universities," said Prof B P Sanjay, Vice Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Central University, which is coordinating the entrance.

The single entrance will make the admission process smooth for students, who otherwise have to appear in multiple tests to get admission into the university of their choice. These universities are among the 16 universities created last year under a central act. Some of the universities started offering courses from last year also. The remaining nine universities, which are not participating in the combined entrance, will hold their own entrances for admission. "They said they cannot join the combined entrance this year," Sanjay said.

The seven universities have identified 30 centres for conduct of the test on June 19 and 20. Each of the universities will organise the test in their respective regions. However, counselling will be held by each university on merit cum preference basis. "We will see performance of the students in the entrance and also consider his preference for the institute while giving admission to a student," said Prof Abdul Wahid, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had asked these vice chancellors in October last year to conduct a combined entrance exam for admission of students and design innovative courses on the unique ecosystem of the region. These universities have designed a number of innovative courses which are relevant to the local areas.