Decrease in out-of-state applicants for CET

Mangaluru: A significant number of students from outside Karnataka are seeking admission into BSc nursing courses in the state. The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) received 15,435 applications from students from other states, specifically for the BSc nursing course, in order to get admission to which Common Entrance Test (CET) needs to be written.
This marks the third year that KEA has allowed students from other states to compete for BSc nursing seats via the CET. However, compared to 2024, the number of students applying for the CET dropped this year. In 2024, 25,797 students appeared for the CET. In 2023, when the KEA began this experiment, the number of students who appeared was 16,300. Interestingly, most of these students are from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. All these students prepared to write the exam through various examination centres in the state, mainly from Bengaluru and Mangaluru.
Prasanna H, executive director, KEA, said that in the last two years, students from other states were allowed to take the CET.
A KEA source stated that the reason behind the decline in the number of applicants from Kerala to almost 50%, was that many candidates in and around the Kasaragod district, who were not eligible under the Gadinadu quota, had applied to write the CET. However, later during verification, it was found that they were ineligible. "This year, the same has been stopped during the registration process itself. We have also informed officials in border areas about the same," the source pointed out.
This time, a total 3,64,778 candidates applied for the CET. Under Clause C, 1,367 (Horanadu), and Clause D, 1,168 (Gadinadu) candidates, will write the exam. An educationist and head of a nursing college, commenting on the drop in the number of applicants from Kerala, pointed out that a nursing course aspirant can secure a seat easily in Karnataka, whether they write the CET or not. Only some colleges may charge a little extra for those who have not appeared for the CET.