Bhubaneswar, May 22: Admissions into the state's junior colleges are set to begin from Monday with thousands of fresh matriculation graduates queuing up in front of Student Academic Management System (Sams) Resource Centres or their computers to fill up application forms.

The state government has made both online and offline options available to students willing to apply for Plus Two courses in these colleges. Those applying online can download the common application form from the website www.dheodisha.gov.in, while those applying offline can collect the forms from any of the 620 Sams Resource Centers across the state.

More than 3.97 lakh seats are available in 1,503 junior colleges this year. These include 2.23 lakh odd seats in arts, 1.31 lakh in science and 42,747 seats in commerce.

Similar to previous years, BJB Junior College and Ravenshaw Junior College are expected to have the highest cut-off marks in the science stream, followed by Khallikote Junior College, Berhampur, and Basic Science College, Bhubaneswar.

The students selected in the first phase will be intimated through e-mails and text messages to take admission in the designated colleges.

This year, the state government has slashed the seats it had increased last year after many of these had remained vacant at the end of the admission period. Apprehending shortage of seats, the department had increased the number of seats to 4.41 lakh. However, only 3.82 lakh applications for admission into junior colleges had reached the department. Even after two rounds of admission, 44,451 seats remained vacant in arts, 71,290 in science and 27,489 in commerce.

"Looking at the lukewarm response, the department has once again reduced the number of seats to 3,97,691 this year. The seats will be increased if there is demand," said a senior higher education department official.

Last year, the department had decided to fill the vacant seats through spot admissions. Students who were selected in first and second merit lists but could not take admission and students who had not been selected in any of the phases and did not have other options were made eligible for admission under spot selection.

The higher education department said that no fresh application form was needed for spot admission.