AICTE May Lift Cap On Engineering Seats; What This Means For Mid-Level Colleges

The council mentioned that this was subject to infrastructure availability and occupied faculty positions. Expert committees will make inspections before granting approval for an increase in intake. An increase in seats will be allowed only if the institution already offers at least three courses in core branches, according to a Times of India report.

While top engineering colleges are upbeat, the mid-level ones that provide quality education are worried that the move would affect their admissions. “We will wait for the final approval process handbook, although there is a likelihood that the proposed move will increase the gap between the top colleges and mid-tier ones. They may not be able to provide quality education if admission dips,”  B Chidambararajan, director of SRM Valliammai Engineering College was quoted as saying.

The reportd quoted Anna University vice-chancellor R Velraj as saying that the move would accelerate the end of sub-par engineering colleges. As of now, Tamil Nadu has a sanctioned strength of 2.6 lakh seats in 440 engineering colleges.