Rajiv Gandhi University

Overview

Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) was established in 1984, and recognized as a Central University in 2007. Its academic activities are organized into 12 Faculties, 44 Departments, 2 Institutes, and 1 Center offering Degrees. It also has 30 MoUs with premier Universities and companies across the world. It has achieved several contributions to the state of Arunachal Pradesh over the past four decades, including the first ever Human Development State Report in 2005, a detailed documentation of all the bio-resources of the state, and the Arunachal Pradesh State Youth Policy in 2022.

The Placement Cell of RGU provides career counseling, training, placement, and higher education counseling services to ~3,000 students. Prominent blue chip recruiters include Infosys, Bajaj Allianz, HDFC Bank, Reliance Jio, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, Tata Consultancy Services, Dabur, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Popular job sectors are Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI), Marketing, IT Consulting, and E-Commerce. The Placement Cell also undertakes important awareness and publicity services of new job postings online, webinars for career counseling, workshops for high level training, and internship interviews, recruitment tests, and placement drives.

As one of the most prominent Universities in the North East, RGU provides world class infrastructure to its 2,900+ students. The 302 acre campus is located on top of Rono Hill in Itanagar, and is home to 15 academic buildings, an extensive sports complex, and a state of the art Health Center. It also has four indoor and open gyms to ensure that all students and staff members have access to fitness. Finally, the Students' Activity Center provides multiple venues for cultural performances and competitions.

Rajiv Gandhi University Highlights

Rajiv Gandhi University Fees

The academic fees for students of Rajiv Gandhi University have multiple components e.g. tuition fees, examination charges, registration fees, and caution deposits. The three main segments of fees for PG students enrolled in non-professional courses are:

• Caution Deposit (refundable after completion of studies at RGU Itanagar): INR 1,100 (MSW or MA), INR 2,200 (MSc with practicals), or INR 3,300 (MSW).
• Annual fees: INR 2,785 (all courses except MA - Mass Communications), or INR 5,935 (MA - MassCom).
• Semester fees: INR 2,840 (MA, MCom, MSW), or INR 3,090 (MSc with practicals), or INR 10,965 (MA - MassCom).

Professional courses typically have higher annual and semester fees. For example, MBA students pay INR 14,235 as annual fees, in addition to tuition fees of INR 9,140 per semester. All students must also bear the cost of minor academic fees (e.g. Registration charges of INR 300 per semester, and Examination fees of INR 700 per semester).

RGU Hostel and mess fees form the main components of living costs. These are made up of:

• Hostel admission fee: INR 500. This is a one time payment.
• Hostel rent: INR 1,200 per month (Siang hostel) or INR 600 per month (all other Halls of Residence). This also includes maintenance, electricity, and water charges.
• Hostel caution deposit: INR 1,000. This is a one time payment, refundable at the time of graduation provided that the student has not caused any harm to University property.
• Mess fee: INR 2,800 per month. This is paid in advance for four months at a time (INR 10,920 per semester), and the actual mess charges incurred are adjusted against the advance at the end of the semester.

Rajiv Gandhi University Admissions

The eligibility criteria for admission to Rajiv Gandhi University, are as follows:

• UG:
  • Applicants to UG programs must have a 10+2 pass certificate issued by a recognized Board of Secondary Education in India or abroad. Students in Standard XII may also apply, subject to submitting the final certificate before joining.
  • Applicants must have a valid score in the CUET UG entrance examination.
  • The cut-off required (50% for most programs) may vary from time to time, and the full list can be found on the RGU Samarth web portal.
• PG:
  • All applicants must hold UG degrees in relevant disciplines from a recognized University in India or abroad.
  • A valid CUET PG score is compulsory for most postgraduate programs offered by RGU.
  • The aggregate over all end-semester examinations during the course of UG study must exceed 50% for most programs (or 45% for reserved category applicants). However, some courses (e.g. MCom) have a cut-off of 45% for general category students who have a BCom degree.

Students who wish to apply to Rajiv Gandhi University must follow these steps:

• Applying for CUET UG or PG, conducted by NTA. Certain programs might also require a valid RGU CET score.
• Submitting personal and academic details while registering online for the relevant CUET examination. Any error can lead to cancellation of the application.
• Downloading and printing a soft copy of the hall ticket.
• Appearing for the CUET examination(s) on the allotted dates.
• After the CUET score is obtained, students must visit the RGU admissions website and submit their CUET score and academic transcripts.
• All students who satisfy the eligibility criteria will be featured in the Admissions Notice on the RGU Samarth website. If there are more applications than seats for a particular course, a waiting list will be released with the shortlist.
• Students in the final list must pay the first installment of the semester fee to confirm their acceptance of the offer.

Rajiv Gandhi University Placements

As one of the top Universities in India, the placement highlights of Rajiv Gandhi University are as follows: 

• Prominent recruiters (for both internships and full time placements) include State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Axis Bank, Byju’s, Infosys, Bajaj Allianz, HDFC Bank, Reliance Jio, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, Tata Consultancy Services, Dabur, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra Finance, IDBI Bank, UltraTech Cement, Airtel, and North East Small Finance Bank.
• The Placement Cell of RGU has the following functions:
  • Maintaining an online portal to publish details of upcoming company visits to the campus.
  • Conducting webinars to inform students about different career paths in the public and private sectors.
  • Facilitating the selection procedure for internships and placements by providing premises and releasing shortlists on time.
  • Conducting workshops on soft skill development to equip students from diverse backgrounds with everything needed to receive job offers.
  • Conducting internship fairs to inform a large number of candidates about available options and provide a physical platform for students to interact with company officials.
  • Following up with companies to release the offer letters of selected students to ensure that the onboarding procedure is conducted smoothly.
  • Conducting placement drives and pre-placement talks by major recruiters.
  • Contacting distinguished alumni and business leaders to conduct inspirational talks for career counseling.
  • Working with Faculty members to incorporate industry relevant topics into the academic curriculum.

Rajiv Gandhi University Cut-Offs

Most programs offered by RGU require CUET UG or PG scores; some additionally require RGU CET scores. None of these have cut-offs announced before the selection process; the final cut-off is determined after the full seat allocation process is completed. However, there are variable cut-offs based on the qualifying examination score. For example, applicants to MCom programs must hold a UG degree in commerce with an aggregate above 45%, and applicants to most programs (e.g. MBA) have a general category cut-off of 50%. Some professional programs e.g. MCA have no cut-off, and certain courses have even higher cut-offs e.g. MA in Sports Psychology requires 55% in the UG psychology qualifying program. These are all relaxed by 5% for reserved category applicants.

Rajiv Gandhi University Faculty & Alumni

Rajiv Gandhi University is home to 206 full time Faculty members. Of these, 128 (62%) are Assistant Professors, 27 (13%) are Associate Professors, and the remaining 51 (25%) are full Professors. Most Faculty members (176 out of 206, or 85%) hold PhD degrees. The Faculty includes both contract and regular positions, and all Professors work closely with students on both academic and placement training matters.

The Alumni Association of Rajiv Gandhi University (AARGU) was established in 2006, and leverages the vast alumni network of RGU while building a bridge. Its primary function is facilitating knowledge sharing between students and alumni and among graduates of the University. The database of AARGU contains details of alumni from 1986 onwards. It organized reunions, events, and regular online and offline publications. It also contributes to capability building through seminars and webinars to enhance the industry readiness of the current students of RGU. Finally, it recognizes distinguished alumni through awards and maintains an online portal to connect with ex-students all over the world.

Rajiv Gandhi University Scholarships

As in other top Universities in India, there are multiple financial aid options available to students of Rajiv Gandhi University. A total of 2,466 students receive 100% tuition fee waivers from various State and Central Government schemes. This is equal to 86% of the total student population at RGU Itanagar. Therefore, the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) is the source of most funding opportunities for UG and PG students of RGU. The highlights are:

1. Scholarship Offering Bodies: 13 Ministries and National Bodies offer multiple scholarships to eligible students of RGU via the NSP, including the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Department of Higher Education, the University Grants Commission (UGC), and the North Eastern Council (NEC).

2. Scholarships for Socially Disadvantaged Students: Multiple Ministries offer such scholarships. For example, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs awards the National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students. This is associated with a full tuition fee waiver and a living stipend. Students who are admitted to RGU and satisfy all conditions must apply before the end of October in the year in which they receive the admit offer.

3. Merit-cum-Means (MCM) Scholarships: These are also offered by multiple ministries, and require a combination of academic merit in the qualifying examination, and financial/social disadvantage. For example, students from Minority Communities whose aggregate in the qualifying test exceeds 50%, and whose family income does not exceed INR 2.5 LPA, are eligible for MCM scholarships of INR 20,000 per year or the actual course fee, whichever is less.

4. AICTE and UGC Scholarships: These are awarded to 10,000 students across India to enable them to pursue postgraduate education. The scholarship amount is INR 15,000 per month, for up to 10 months annually. The selection is done on the basis of merit (UG aggregate) except if the applicant is a girl child, for whom 30% of the seats are reserved. After these seats are filled, the remaining are populated based strictly on academic merit. 

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment also provides scholarships for needy and academically gifted students from the SC, ST, and OBC categories. All these financial aid options have application deadlines of either October 31 or November 30 of the year of admission to RGU Itanagar.

Rajiv Gandhi University Preparation & FAQs

Applicants to the undergraduate and postgraduate programs offered by RGU Itanagar must respectively submit CUET UG or CUET PG scores. To prepare for these examinations, students should first check the eligibility criteria and note down the papers for which they need to appear to apply for their programs of interest. After this, they should go through previous years' examination papers, and understand the syllabus and exam pattern thoroughly. Finally, they should procure and attempt mock tests to balance speed and accuracy. If the performance in the mock tests is below the previous year's cut-off for the merit list, they should consider enrolling in tuition classes in either online or offline mode to improve their predicted score.

Rajiv Gandhi University Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. Which is the top University in India?

Rajiv Gandhi University is one of the best Universities in India. It is ranked #13 among the best Central Universities in India, according to the IIRF 2024 ranking list.

Q. What are the application fees to Rajiv Gandhi University?

The application fees to Rajiv Gandhi University vary according to the level of the program to which the student is applying (undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD). Applications to postgraduate courses (via CUET PG) must pay INR 1,200 for two subjects, and CUET UG aspirants must pay INR 1,000 as entrance test fees.

Q. What are the expected dates of RGU CET 2025?

Like RGU CET 2024, RGU CET 2025 is expected to be held over the last three weeks of July 2025, for admission to most PhD and some PG courses offered by RGU Itanagar.

Q. Which PG courses offered by RGU require students to submit RGU CET scores in addition to CUET PG scores?

Certain highly specialized PG programs (e.g. MA in Social Work, MA in Defense and Strategic Studies, MSc in Sports Biomechanics) require RGU CET scores. Most PhD programs offered by the University have a similar requirement.