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Mumbai University

Mumbai University or formally known as the University of Mumbai is a collegiate public university in the state of Maharashtra. It was established on 18 July 1857 in Mumbai, and it is not only one of the oldest state universities in India but also among the largest university in the world. There are more than 711 colleges that are affiliated with Mumbai University, and the teaching faculty are highly qualified and experienced in the effective use of contemporary teaching methodologies among students. It is affiliated with University Grant Commission, AIU, and NAAC.

For the academic year, 2022-2023, the academic body of Mumbai University has proposed 74 more new colleges. It has also directed all its affiliated colleges to implement the 100% fee waiver for those students of UG and PG who have lost their parents during the Covid -19 pandemic. The motto of the University is ‘The Fruit of Learning is Character and Righteous Conduct’. The Chancellor of the university is the Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari and the Vice-Chancellor of the University is Suhas Pednekar.

History

At the beginning of the 19^th century, the British Colonial Rulers thought of educating the Indian masses according to their pattern of European education so that they could make these people help them in administering the work. To establish the education system, many committees were appointed from time to time; one of the earliest such committees was headed by Sir Charles Wood, who drafted Wood’s Despatch in 1854. According to its suggestions petition presented by the Bombay Association to the British Colonial Government, the University of Bombay was established in 1857.

It was modeled on the line of similar universities in the United Kingdom and particularly the University of London. There were two different colleges that existed before the university was established and later surrendered their degree-granting privileges to the university. In 1835 the first department that was established at Elphinstone College was the Faculty of Arts, and in 1845 Faculty of Medicine in Grant Medical College.

So the first degree awarded by the University in 1862 were Licentiate in Medicine and Bachelor of Arts. Sindh Medical School Hyderabad, Sindh (now in Pakistan) was also affiliated with the university. Cornelia Sorabji, who was India’s first female advocate and Oxford’s first female law student, also graduated from Mumbai University in 1888. Till 1904 the main functional responsibility of the University was to award affiliations to different colleges, conduct exams, produce guidelines for colleges, and develop curricula. From 1904 postgraduate courses were also introduced along with research disciplines and teaching departments.

After the Indian independence in 1947, the powers and functions of the University of Bombay were recognized under The Bombay University Act of 1953, and in 1996 the name of the University was changed from the University of Bombay to the University of Mumbai. There were 80 affiliated colleges, and 42,272 students were enrolled in 1949, which increased over time.

Campus

There are two main campuses of Mumbai University one is Vidyanagari Campus at Kalina, Santacruz, Mumbai, which is built on 230 acres of land and the second one is Ratnagiri Campus, Ratnagiri, built-in 13 acres of land. There are also 2 sub-campuses of the University of Mumbai at Kalyan and Thale. Its campuses are full of all the necessary amenities and facilities for the student. It has hostel facilities, computer labs, science laboratories, language lab; it has state of the art WiFi connection for research assignments and provides statistical software (SPSS) to its students, air-conditioned classrooms, mess and cafeteria, gymkhana, sports complex, Cricket ground, guest house, well-equipped conference hall and Jawaharlal Nehru Library, which is the central library of the university and convocation hall.

There is also a historical building on the campus known as Rajabai Clock Tower, modeled by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The cost of construction was given by a local businessman who named the tower in memory of his mother. The University of Mumbai has a few departments that are located away from the four campuses, medical and medicinal research are mainly located in prominent hospitals such as Bombay Hospital, Tata Memorial Hospital, King Edward Memorial Hospital, G.S. Medical College, Institute of Chemical Technology.

If we talk about Engineering colleges, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, established in 1887, was the first engineering college of this university. The first engineering college of the Mumbai University to start courses in Information Technology, Computer Engineering, electronic engineering, and Biomedical engineering was Thadomal Sahani Engineering College.

Courses and Admission

Mumbai University offers more than 200 different courses at undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, and diploma levels across several disciplines such as science, arts, commerce, management, engineering, law, etc. It offers both full-time and part-time courses to its students. It also offers distance learning programs from IDOL Mumbai University (Institute of Distance and Open Learning). Mumbai University has 12 specialized centers, 56 departments, and more than 780 colleges.

It takes admission on the basis of merits and entrance tests depending on which course you want to get admission to. For some courses like B.Tech, B.Arch, B.Pharma, M.Tech, etc., the University needs the valid scores obtained in the entrance exam such as MHT CET, JEE Main, NATA, GATE, NET, etc. For courses in Bachelor’s of Science, Commerce, B.Ed, BPA, BMM, etc., an entrance test is conducted by the university.

For full-time PG courses offered in the Faculty of Science, Faculty of Arts, Commerce, Fine Arts, and Performing arts, admission is taken on the basis of the marks obtained in graduation and interview by the related department.

Scholarship & Placement

Mumbai University offers various scholarships to the meritorious and needy students under different governmental and institutional scholarships schemes such as

• Financial assistance up to INR 10 Lakh to the students of Backward classes (SC, ST, DT, NT, and SBC) whose family’s annual income is less than INR 1 lakh rupees.
• Financial assistance to the needy students (economically backward students) whose family income is less than ?75000 annually.
• Benefits of a number of different government scholarships for meritorious students and students of schedule caste and schedule tribes etc.

Mumbai University has its own Training and Placement Cell. It is responsible for conducting sessions for placements every year at the campus. It acts as a bridge between the recruiters and students. By the end of their degree, students can drop their resumes and connect with reputed organizations and recruiters. The median salary stood at ?12 lakh per annum. The top recruiters of the University placement drive are Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant, Deloitte, Capgemini, Morgan Stanley, etc.

Rank & Accreditation

University Grant Commission recognizes Mumbai University, and NAAC has accredited it with an A++ grade.

• In the 2021 NIRF Ranking, Mumbai University has been ranked 71^st among the top universities list.
• According to QS World Ranking 2022, Mumbai University is in the rank band of 1001-1200
• In the 2021 Times Higher Asia University Ranking, it is in the rank band of 301-350
• In the 2020 QS World Ranking for BRICS countries, Mumbai University was ranked 89.

Academic Collaboration

Mumbai University has collaborated, partnered, and signed MoU with various famous Indian and foreign institutions for student exchange programs and different academic programs. Mumbai University not only collaborated with colleges and universities but has collaborated with many different companies like Bank of Baroda, LIC, Radio City, etc. Here are the few international universities with which Mumbai Universities has collaborated:

• Ben-Gurion University
• Liverpool University
• University of Amsterdam
• Tianjin University of Technology
• Reyerson University
• Tianjin University
• Edith Cowan University
• University of Bath
• IESEG School of Management
• Nankai University

Notable Alumni

As this is one of the oldest state universities in Mumbai and India, there are a lot of reputed and renowned personalities of India who have passed from Mumbai University; some of the most famous are –

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak – Freedom fighter, philosopher, started Newspapers- Keshari and Maratha
• R Ambedkar – Former Minister of Law and Justice, social reformer, Chairman of Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution
• D Deshmukh – Former Minister of Finance
• Dadabhai Naoroji- Educator, intellect, first Indian and Asian to sit in the British House of Commons
• N Bhagwati – 17^th Chief Justice of India
• Adi Godrej – Chairman of Godrej Group
• Ajay Piramal – Chairman Piramal Group
• Anil Ambani – Chairman of Dhirubhai Ambani Group
• Chanda Kochhar – CEO and MD of ICICI Bank
• Dorabjee Tata – Former Chairman of Tata Group
• Jagdish Chandra Mahindra – Industrialist and Founder of Mahindra Group
• Mukesh Ambani- Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries
• Nita Ambani- Founder and Chairperson of the Dhirubhai Ambani International School
• Pratibha Patil – First Female President of India
• Morarji Desai – 4^th Prime Minister of India
• Aishwarya Rai – Miss World and Bollywood Actress
• Ajay Devgan – Actor
• Anil Kapoor – Actor
• Dadasaheb Phalke The Father of Indian Cinema, Indian Producer, Director, Screenwriter
• Lara Dutta – Miss Universe and Bollywood Actor
• Manish Malhotra- Fashion Designer
• Kareena Kapoor – Actress
• Ali Fazl and John Abraham – Bollywood Actor

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