BE Apprenticeship Programme: The University of Mumbai has rolled out a new BE Apprenticeship Programme, giving final-year engineering students the chance to spend a full year training with industry partners as part of their degree. Offered under the Faculty of Science and Technology, the programme is designed to align classroom learning more closely with real-world industry practice, and its structure follows National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 goals along with AICTE guidelines.
How the One-Year Training Works
Selected students will undergo apprenticeship training across the seventh and eighth semesters of their BE programme, spending a full academic year embedded with an industry partner instead of following the conventional classroom-only final-year schedule. During this period, students are expected to complete a minimum of 1,260 hours of practical, on-the-job training.
On successful completion, the university will award 42 academic credits toward the BE degree, in place of the credits typically earned through regular semester coursework. The aim is to let students apply engineering concepts learned in class to actual projects, technical processes, and everyday industry operations before they graduate.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
The BE Apprenticeship Programme route will not be open to every final-year student. Mumbai University plans to select a maximum of 15% of final-year BE students for the programme, based on merit. To be considered, a student must have secured a minimum CGPA of 6.75 by the end of the fifth semester, with preference given to those holding higher CGPAs during the selection process. Students enrolled in Honours, Minor, or Research-with-Honours tracks of the BE programme will not be eligible to opt for the apprenticeship route.
Part of a Wider State-Level Push
This BE Apprenticeship Programme rollout builds on Maharashtra’s broader Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP) initiative, which the state government approved for implementation across public universities from the 2025-26 academic year, in line with UGC guidelines and NEP 2020.
Mumbai University had earlier announced a set of AEDP courses across disciplines through its Garware Institute of Career Education and Development, with industry partners providing training and stipends to participating students. The BE apprenticeship track extends this same philosophy specifically to engineering final-years, with its own hour and credit requirements.
