Delhi University (DU) was among the first central universities to implement the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) in the 2022-23 academic year. Conceived under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the optional fourth year was intended to bring research into undergraduate education, align Indian degrees with global standards and produce academically rigorous graduates. The experience of the first batch of students to enter the fourth year, however, has been far more uneven.
In August 2025, DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said that about 55% of eligible undergraduates, roughly 31,000 of 71,000 students, had opted for the fourth year, which grants students an Honours with Research degree. The second batch is set to begin the programme this year. Research and uncertainty
“I didn’t know what to do till my third year, so I needed a buffer,” said Aishi Mitra, an English Honours graduate from Lady Shri Ram College, class of 2026, who completed the fourth year with a psychology research component. “But I had to figure out everything on my own. Students were confused, and so was the faculty.”For Ms. Mitra, the additional year eventually proved useful. It allowed her to move beyond conventional career options in English and strengthened her application for postgraduate study abroad. Yet she said many of her peers chose not to continue because their families needed them to start earning. That tension between financial necessity and academic aspiration surfaced repeatedly.
