The University of Mumbai's affiliated colleges have released their first general merit list for degree admissions, highlighting a notable increase in demand for professional courses. The data shows lower cutoff percentages in traditional courses compared to the previous year, while professional courses maintain higher cutoffs. For instance, at St Xavier’s College in Dhobi Talao, the cutoff for traditional Bachelor of Arts (BA) courses dropped to 87%, down from 90% last year, whereas the BA in Psychology and English courses saw cutoffs of 90.67%. The admission process has attracted around 270,000 students who have submitted a total of 912,130 applications, surpassing last year's numbers. Additionally, RA Podar College noted a slight increase in the cutoff for traditional BCom courses to 94.4%. The principal of KPB Hinduja College of Commerce, Navin M Punjabi, emphasized that traditional programmes remain popular, while there is also a rising interest in creative courses like mass media, indicating a shift towards careers in media and communication.