Students forced out of the Delhi university's admissions race by the high cutoffs may find the school of open learning (SOL) and the non-collegiate women's education board (NCWEB) as alternative centres of learning offering the same end as the haloed north campus and south campus colleges - a DU graduation certficate.

Both SOL and NCWEB have flexible fee structures allowing the instiutions to subsidise students. This and the ease of admission ensures that the two have many takers among those left out by the high cutoffs.

Aarti Kumari from Patna said, “I want to do BCom honours, but I have scored 65 percent. No good college in DU is offering me a seat. I am from a government school and it is not so easy for people like us to get 100 percent, like the cutoff in one of the colleges. So, I have turned to NCWEB, it a women’s board and affiliated with DU.”

Sujoy Roy from Kolkata said, “I have no qualms about doing a correspondence course from SOL. I get to work while I am studying. I get to pursue the course I want to with DU’s certificate by the end of it all. Colleges in DU are just hyped. I am happy to be a part of DU this way."

H C Pokhriyal, executive director, SOL said, “Students also turn to SOL because of its fee structure. A lot of students from economically weaker sections come to SOL. This year, we have sold about 75,000 prospectus - much more than what we did last year. A lot of students want to do BCom honours and BA courses. Also this year the cutoffs have been exceptionally high. So, students not able to study in colleges of their choice have come to SOL."

Shalini Choudhary from Allahabad said, “I want to prepare for CA. So, I want to take up BCom. But I don't have a score high enough for the cut offs. I could have chosen to study in an off-campus college but because SOL offers flexibility in timings, I will get enough time to study for CA and also get my graduation degree under DU.”

Milind Deora agrees. “My main aim is clearing the civil services exam. The DU degree is a backup. So I enrolled myself in SOL, where my 12 class percentage does not act as barrier for me to study BCom honours.”