Lucknow University's Review and Vedict by CollegeDekho

Campus at a Glance

The century-old campus of Lucknow University throws a picture of history and heritage in the minds of students and faculty alike. The university's foundation was rooted in the contributions of three colleges, namely: King George's Medical University, Canning College and Isabella Thoburn College. Established in 1920, University of Lucknow has received an A++ grade from NAAC.

The 223-acre campus is an architectural feast in itself with the greenery and beautifully carved and curated old structures. The university has a total of 17 institutes and 47 departments offering 15 undergraduate courses and 67 postgraduate courses in its two campuses. The courses are offered in multiple streams like arts, commerce, education, fine arts, law, science, engineering and technology, Ayurveda, Unani, yoga and alternative medicine.

The cumilative Lucknow University student-to-faculty ratio currently stands at 34:1. Out of total students, male students comprises 56% and female students stand at a satisfactory 44%. With majority of students from home state only, the percentage of students coming from outside Uttar Pradesh is at a distressing 1%. It is evident that the university has not been a favourable choice for students living outside UP. The reasons can be directly associated with the administration, location, placement, exposure and a few other factors.

Lucknow University Ranking - NIRF Ranking: Thriving!

Our Take: 

Given the NIRF parameters namely Teaching, Learning & Resources, Research and Professional Practice (RP), Graduation Outcomes (GO), Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) and Peer Perception, Lucknow University has been included in the rank band 101-150, out of 200 top-performing universities in India, which is progressive. It shows a jump of around 50 ranks from being in the rank band of 151 to 200 in 2021 and 2022. We can infer that the performance growth has been significant in 2023 as compared to recent years in the past. 

Lucknow University Academia and Batch Size

Lucknow University is the first university to adopt the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in its PG curriculum. It follows the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) allowing students to choose their desired courses. As per Lucknow University self-study report for its 3rd NAAC Accreditation cycle, the university has adopted the following as a part of its curriculum- 

• Electives
• Value Added Courses 
• MOOCs
• Non-Value Added Courses
• Intra-Departmental Courses
• Inter-Departmental Courses
• Mous with NGOs, Industries, Central and State Government Institutes in India and abroad

Academic Composition

Lucknow University's academia is a mix of classrooms, assignments, projects and exams. The weightage for each varies from course to course.

Batch Size

As per the Lucknow University NIRF Report 2022, for the UG 3-year program, the total student count was recorded at 9012 against the sanctioned seat intake of 3406. Similarly, for UG 4-year and PG 2-year programmes, the number of students that were offered admission beyond the approved intake limit was 883 and 1920, respectively.

Fees

Students have mixed feelings when it comes to the fee structure. According to some students, the numbers are a bit above the line while others consider Lucknow University fees to be reasonable. 

Let us have a look at the fees charged by the university:

The fees for some of the popular Lucknow University courses are as follows:

Our Take:

• Even though Lucknow University has added multiple value additions to its curriculum, students have expressed that the curriculum is not relevant enough to suit the needs of the present times. And, if that holds true, the university needs to do a bit more moderation in its curriculum.
• The total approved seat intake is 7,228 and currently, 16,365 students are enrolled in Lucknow University not to mention that the university claims to maintain a faculty-to-student ratio of 34:1. This clearly indicates that Lucknow University is increasing the number of batches maintaining a decent ratio value! The quality of teaching suffers as faculty members are allocated an excess number of classes.
• The fee range of INR 3,500-INR 50,000 per semester falls in a reasonable slab as compared to other state universities.

Lucknow University Infrastructure

Classrooms/Seminar Halls

The university has 343 classrooms out of which 326 classrooms and seminar halls are ICT-enabled classrooms for fruitful learning and teaching process. 

Labs

The Department of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences have separate laboratories. Apart from that, the university has a Computer Lab and an English Communication Laboratory.

Library

Tagore Library serves as the central library of Lucknow University alongside a Cyber Library featuring 538 computers available for student use. Additionally, a Cooperative Lending Library, initiated by the state government in 1966-67, has an extensive collection of 76,450 books, which is what the university boasts of! Separate department-wise libraries are also available.

Internet

The campus is said to be equipped with a 24/7 power supply and high-speed gigabit bandwidth through the National Knowledge Network, along with complimentary Wi-Fi access.

Sports Facilities

With two playgrounds on the old campus and 1 on the new campus of Lucknow University, students can play football, cricket, volleyball, and athletics. The in-house sports that students can enjoy are badminton, table tennis, chess, karate, judo and taekwondo. 

Gym

Lucknow University has a fully equipped "Sir Maharaj Singh Gymnasium" on the old campus, housing 35 exercise machines. The new campus also offers a gymnasium facility to its students.

Canteen

Given its huge size, 5 canteens are available for students at the old campus and 3 at the new campus. Here is a snippet of the canteen’s location within the campus:

Our Take: 

• As per students' feedback, we can conclude that Lucknow University has provided considerable refreshment facilities to its students. The canteen near the Administrative Block at Gate No 1 is the students' favourite. The prices are reasonable.
• Nevertheless, as per some students, a few canteens offer a rather limited selection of snacks, and there are concerns about the hygiene and cleanliness as tables and chairs are often left dirty.

Hostels

Lucknow University provides separate accommodation facilities for boys and girls There are a total of 8 girl hostels and 10 boy hostels. According to some students' feedback from the 2022 batch, the hostel fee is INR 5,000 per annum, The other fees that are to be paid along with the hostel fee are:

• Mess Fees: INR 24,000 for the first six months and INR 16,000 for the next six months
• Caution Fee: It ranges between INR 3,000 and INR 4,000, which is refundable.

Here is the list of hostels available for students in Lucknow University:

Our Take:

Students have commented that after its renovation in 2020, the hostel facilities have improved. Subhash Hostel is the most famous among the boy's hostels. However, they have also shared that getting a hostel is a tedious job. Students often have to arrange for paying guest accommodation or room, which is readily available in close proximity at reasonable prices.

Other Facilities

Students are provided with a student support system, a full-fledged office of the Dean of Students Welfare. Arogya Bhawan, Yoga Centre, and Child Care Centre are a few other facilities available.

Innovative Schemes

The university runs a few schemes like Chhatra Kalyan Yojana, Karamyogi, Our People’s Day, and Mentor-Mentee Programme-TREE (Teaching, Reaching, Emboldening, Evolving) for the welfare and professional growth of the students.

Lucknow University Internships and Placements

Internships:

Lucknow University website mentions that students are offered internships in various government as well as non-government organisations across Lucknow and outside the city. The following data was retrieved from the NAAC 3rd Cycle Accreditation Report 2021 of Lucknow University:

Placements:

Lucknow University highest salary package is recorded is INR 16 LPA. Every year, the Career Placement Cell (CPC) provides placement to at least 70% of students. TCS, Infosys, Reliance, BYJU, ICICI etc. are some of the top recruiters mentioned in the placement report. 

When asked about the same, MBA students expressed that very few companies approach the university. On the other hand, a B.Tech CSE student states that the average package for their department spans from INR 5 LPA to INR 6 LPA.

Check the Lucknow University placement data based on NIRF Report 2022 from the table below:

Our Take: 

As Lucknow University claims that the placement cell has to meet the target of 70% placement percentage, it indicates that the placement percentage is quite low. The data available in the NIRF Report justifies the same. The placement percentage for the PG 2-year programme is very low at 18%. Similarly, for the UG 3-year programme, the placement percentage is quite alarming at only 11%. On the other hand, the UG 3-year programmes are generally the ones where not many recruiters have profiles to offer. 

Lucknow University Diversity and Demographics

Lucknow University claims to have diverse students PAN India with a special focus on lower economic strata. Additionally, the university proudly notes the enrollment of international students hailing from Mauritius, Africa, Iran, and Afghanistan. However, many students claimed that casteism and regionalism still have some of its roots within the campus. Campus politics is another major issue that the students talked about. The gender ratio index and demographic representation of Lucknow University students as per NIRF Report 2022 are shown below: 

Lucknow University: Gender Ratio Index

Lucknow University: Demographic Diversity

Our Take: 

• The female-to-male ratio for UG 3-year stands at 40% which does not align with the gender-sensitive environment that Lucknow University claims to have. However, when it comes to PG 2-year female-to-male ratio stands at 58%.
• 99% of the total students are from UP.  With only 1% of students from outside UP,  it is evident that students prefer taking admission in other universities instead of the University of Lucknow. 
• Campus politics is common in state universities. However,  a balance between education and politics needs to be maintained,  or else,  there may be consequences that students have to bear at the time of results.   

Lucknow University Faculty and Administration

Lucknow University faculty count currently stands at 478. Students have expressed that teachers carry the pride of being a part of this archaic university, however, the pride takes the form of arrogance in a few departments. They further added that teachers frequently arrive late for classes and there is a lack of active engagement in teaching. A student from the Geography Department highlighted that few faculty members are not capable of guiding the students the right way.

Students from outside UP often face the unprofessional attitude and ignorant behaviour of the administration. Some students mentioned that the staff rarely communicates directly with students and instead sends messengers, who also exhibit rudeness. At times, students are not allowed inside the administration office. Communication behaviour is another issue for non-Hindi and foreign students as most of the staff are not well-versed in English.

According to students' feedback, the working process is slow. The results are often declared late. Corruption is also seen in a few cases. 

Our Take:

Given its esteemed reputation of being an old educational institute, Lucknow University needs to address the rude and ignorant behaviour of its administrative staff and faculty members. Such incidents can cause stress among the students, not to mention the adverse effects on studies. The university needs staff members that are fluent in English and understand their job well. Otherwise, such reasons can add up to incidents as can be seen in the case of student diversity with only 1% of students from outside UP getting into Lucknow University. 

Lucknow University Location

The University of Lucknow old campus is situated in Badshah Bagh near Hanuman Setu and the new campus is nestled at Jankipuram in Uttar Pradesh. LU's old campus has two entrances, Gate No. 1(Bhaurao Devrath Dwar) and Gate No. 4. The second entrance is connected to the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station.

Our Take: 

Despite being in a favourable location, students have expressed that the nearby environment is not safe, especially for girls. Unnecessary crowds are a common sight near the campus premises.

Lucknow University: Expectation Vs. Reality- CLD Verdict

Apart from being listed as one of the top 150 universities in India by NIRF, Lucknow University boasts of being a no-vehicle zone and plastic-free campus. Plastics below 50 microns are prohibited on the campus. Another brownie point is the disabled-friendly environment that the university provides. The university claims that the majority of the faculty buildings are equipped with ramps to accommodate differently-abled students. Throughout the campus, there are accessible washrooms designed for individuals with disabilities. 

Coming to reality-check, the university undoubtedly has provided good facilities to its students, however, student feedback can be summarised as:

• Little to no exposure which is evident given the unbalanced student diversity. 
• Faculty needs an upgrade and more responsible staff must be recruited by the university. 
• Placement statistics are not at all satisfactory with placement percentage below 30%
• Campus politics and corruption must be kept in check.

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