This admission season, colleges across the city are busy sprucing up their hostels. With rents going up, colleges are luring students with these hostels , prominently displayed on the prospectus.

Reasons behind this focus on hostels are many.

With the number of students taking admissions increasing every year, on average, experts say, three students vie for a hostel seat in private colleges in the city — this number goes up in case of government colleges.

The demand for a hostel seat has resulted in colleges taking in ‘hostellers’ on strict merit. A score below 80 per cent will hardly get one a hostel seat in leading private colleges. In government colleges, 60 per cent is the average cut off for admission to hostels, but in this case the competition gets stiff.

“With accommodation getting expensive in the city, most students prefer hostels, which increases the pressure on colleges to adjust them,” SD College principal Dr A C Vaid says. “For every hostel seat we have three applicants on average, and that is why hostel admission is being held strictly on merit basis”. Almost all colleges mention “admission to hostel strictly on merit” in bold on their prospectuses.

More facilities, more fee
Also, besides expanding their hostels to handle the rush, colleges have added facilities to make them more attractive.

These facilities range from Wi-Fi enabled premises, food courts in addition to a regular mess, branded furniture, cyber cafes, gyms, reading rooms and meditation or yoga rooms. The MCM College in Sector 36 has gone a step ahead and included “milk, twice a day” in the list.

“We have really worked hard on (our) hostels. We assure students will not get the kind of facilities we are offering anywhere else,” DAV College principal Dr B C Josan says.

But these facilities have hiked the hostel fee. MCM College has increased the hostel fee by around Rs 13,500 compared to last year. Now, a seat in the college hostel will cost around Rs 49,000 every year.

Also, hostel fee at the DAV College has been consistently increasing over the last three years. From Rs 15,000 in 2007, it increased to Rs 23,000 last year. This year, it has been increased by another Rs 8,000.

But the hike, colleges say, is justified. “We have changed the entire accommodation system by converting three-seaters in two and two-seaters into single cubicles. Besides, from furniture to bed sheets, everything is branded,” MCM College principal Dr Puneet Bedi says.

Some colleges are also readying separate girls’ hostels. The DAV College, Sector 10, is all set to have a girls’ hostel. The hostel fee at the college, which has been made Wi-Fi enabled, is also set to increase-the amount hasn’t been finalised yet.

Government colleges follow the trend
Seeing private colleges spruce up their hostels, government colleges have also geared up. The Government College for Girls, Sector 11, has started a gym and launched a buffet system under which students are served almost every cuisine over the week, especially in breakfast.