Only 55% students get hostels at Cusat

Kochi: Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), one of Kerala's leading public universities, is facing an acute shortage of hostel facilities, forcing nearly 45% of its outstation students to seek accommodation outside campus hostel.As per latest data furnished by the university, only about 55% of students who applied for hostel rooms were able to secure on-campus accommodation in the 2024-25 academic year. Until Nov 2025, 3,984 students applied for hostel facilities at Cusat, but only 2,214 got hostel admission, leaving close to 1,800 students dependent on private hostels or rented rooms in nearby areas.Selection of candidates eligible for hostels primarily depends on how far their permanent residence is from university campus and on seniority on the campus. In other words, a second-year student stands a greater chance of getting a hostel (provided they applied while joining the university in the first year and did not get a room then) than a fresher. However, even that is not guaranteed.Gender-wise break-up highlights the extent of shortage. Among the 2,104 male students who applied for hostel admission, only 1,162 were allotted rooms. Similarly, of the 1,880 female students who submitted applications, just 1,052 received hostel accommodation, underscoring that the crunch affects both boys' and girls' hostels almost equally.The university currently has over 8,000 students studying various programmes on its campus. In 2022, Cusat commissioned Sahrudaya, a hostel for male students, in an effort to ease the pressure on existing facilities. However, the problem persisted, as the university introduced five new courses across various disciplines, leading to a rise in student intake without a corresponding increase in residential infrastructure."My father was unwell for a long period after an accident, and our family survives on my mother's earnings. I joined the university hoping to complete my education with reduced expenses, but staying in a private hostel placed an extra financial burden on my family," said a first-year student from Palakkad belonging to economically weaker section.Recently elected students' union chairman Rituparna J B of Kozhikode, who lives in private accommodation outside the campus, said the situation left many students in distress. "We will be submitting an urgent request seeking university intervention," Rituparna said.University officials acknowledged that despite efforts to optimize available infrastructure, a significant number of students remain without on-campus accommodation due to space constraints. A senior official told TOI that proposals were submitted to both state govt and University Grants Commission (UGC), seeking approval for construction of additional hostels."Construction of a foreign students' hostel and a girls' hostel will begin shortly," the official said.The university currently has 15 hostels. Of this, eight are boys' hostels, six girls' hostels and one is a foreign students' hostel.