Top 10 Engineering colleges in India

Selection of college to study is one of the important decision a student makes. Right after 10^th standard, selection of stream and colleges forms a vital step for the future. The choice of college/institute to study is taken into consideration once the course/stream is decided. Getting admission in the right college plays an important role in ensuring you get the right guidance to study, gain marks and shape your career. A good college not only has brilliant lecturers but also has first-class facilities to give you an all-round learning experience.

If you have decided to become an Engineer then you must first prepare for Engineering entrance exams and ace it with good marks. A right college is necessary to climb up the professional ladder and the competition is like never before. No doubt there are a number of Engineering colleges now, but joining the right college matters a lot. With numerous colleges now offering Engineering degree, it is natural for the student to get confused, so here we present what must be considered during the selection of college and also the top 10 engineering colleges in India.

What should be considered in college selection?

Some of the points that must be considered while choosing a college are given below:

Academic Programs and Resources – The Number of Degrees available – Bachelor’s, Master’s, Associate, Doctoral are some the Academic programs that a college/university will offer. If you are considering both bachelor’s and master degrees then instead of choosing two colleges, it is better to choose the right college once and continue your studies. It is also imperative to study in a place where you have all the resources needed. Be it a library, computer and practical labs with the latest equipment and machinery, auditorium, seminar hall, cafeteria, playground etc.

Choice of study and Specializations/branches – Not only academic degrees but you must take care to check if your choice of stream/branch is available. A good college is the one which gives its students a good number of choices and electives to study. Including humanities and liberal arts as a study is not a bad idea too.

Culture – A healthy campus life is paramount for a student to grow. The feel of campus is relative to the student’s experience in the college. If a student feels out of place on the campus then it is a bad sign that affects both the student and college. A fine college will have good culture clubs that one can be a part of and if it doesn’t have a club then the culture of campus must allow for starting one.

Placements – A crucial feature which almost all the students look for, in the potential college. Most of the students want to work right after completion of studies. So it is good to know how well the college assists in placements, the placement record it holds, the number of students placed etc

To rank institutions across India, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) launched a framework which ranks the Engineering and Medical colleges across the country considering a set of parameters. The framework is called, NIRF.

What is NIRF

NIRF - The National Institutional Ranking Framework was approved by the MHRD and launched by Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development on 29th September 2015. this framework outlines a methodology to rank college/institutes across the country.

Parameters of NIRF

5 parameters that NIRF considers to rank Engineering colleges in India:

• Teaching, Learning & Resources – The core activities of the place of learning is determined in this parameter.

• Research and Professional Practice – Excellence in teaching, research and learning is checked here.

• Graduation Outcomes – This parameter tests the effectiveness of the core teaching/learning.

• Outreach and Inclusivity – The parameter search for inclusivity of the institution with special emphasis on the representation of women.

• Perception – This parameter gives importance to the perception of the institution.

Top 10 Engineering Colleges according to NIRF Ranking in India

1. Indian Institute of Technology Madras

• Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance. The establishment of the institute was aided by the German Government, which offered technical assistance by signing the first Indo-German agreement in Bonn, West Germany. From 2016-2019, the institute has been ranked as the top engineering institute by NIRF in the country. The institute awards bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

• This residential institute houses about 550 faculty, 8000 students and 1250 administrative & supporting staff. The institute has 16 academic departments, advanced research centres in various disciplines of engineering and pure sciences, and 100 laboratories. The teaching faculty are of international repute with notable achievements in their respective fields.

• The campus is well connected to the city, located 10 KM away from Chennai airport and 12 KM away from Chennai Central railway station.

• Students aspiring for bachelor’s and dual degree program (B.Tech + M.Tech) must qualify JEE Advanced examination, and admission to MA is done through Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Examination specific to IIT Madras. For master’s program, GATE serves as the qualifier, while Joint Admission Test to MSc (JAM) is the qualifying exam for M.Sc program (2 years) and Common Admission Test (CAT) for MBA program.

• IIT Madras uses the Cumulative Grade Point Average (0 to 10) for student evaluation, where the grade points are converted to letters.

2. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

• Located in Haus Khas, Delhi, India, IIT Delhi was established in 1961. It is declared as the Institutes of National Importance and recently the institute was given the status of Institution of Eminence (IoE) by Government of India. The institute awards bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

• IIT Delhi has 15 departments, 11 multi-disciplinary centres. The campus is divided into 4 zones. Notable alumni of the institute include – Kiran bedi, Chetan bhagat, Binny bansal, Sachin bansal, Narinder Kumar Gupta (one of the top 5 world scientists).

• Students aspiring for bachelor’s and dual degree program (B.Tech + M.Tech) must qualify JEE Advanced examination. For master’s program, GATE serves as the qualifier, while Joint Admission Test (JAM) is the qualifying exam for M.Sc program (2 years) and Common Admission Test (CAT) for MBA program.

• IIT Delhi uses the Cumulative Grade Point Average (0 to 10) for student evaluation, where the grade points are converted to letters.

3. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

• Established in 1958 with the assistance of UNESCO, IIT Bombay is a public engineering institution, which is decreed as Institutes of National Importance. IIT Bombay was conferred the status of Institute of Eminence in 2018.

• IIT Bombay has 15 departments, 20 multi-disciplinary centres, 1 school of excellence and 4 interdisciplinary programs. Over the last 53 years, around 39,000 engineers and scientists have graduated from the institute.

• The campus is well connected with good public transport – buses, auto rickshwas and suburban railway transport. It is about 10 KM away from Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Sahar Airport).

• IIT Bombay is known for its flagship 4 Year, 5 Year & 2 Year programmes for which the entry is through the Joint Entrance Examination – Advanced and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).

• IIT Bombay uses the Cumulative Grade Point Average (0 to 10) for student evaluation, where the grade points are converted to letters.

4. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

• Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is the first IIT to be established in the year 1951 and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India. The institute awards bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

• The campus houses about 22,000 residents which includes - 605 faculty members, 1,933 employees and approximately 10,010 students.

• IITKGP has 19 academic departments, 8 multi-disciplinary centres/schools, and 13 schools of excellence in addition to more than 25 central research and development units.

• Some of the notable alumni of IITKGP are - Arvind Kejriwal, Sundar Pichai. There are lots of student organisations that work on a number of initiatives.

• Students aspiring for bachelor’s and dual degree program (B.Tech + M.Tech) must qualify JEE Advanced examination. For master’s program, GATE serves as the qualifier, while Joint Admission Test to MSc (JAM) is the qualifying exam for M.Sc program (2 years) and Common Admission Test (CAT) for MBA program.

• IIT Kharagpur uses the Cumulative Grade Point Average (0 to 10) for student evaluation, where the grade points are converted to letters.

5. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

• Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, was established in the year 1959, and was declared to be an Institute of National Importance. The institute was created with the assistance of a consortium of nine US research universities as part of the Kanpur Indo-American Programme (KIAP).

• The institute awards bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. There are 16 departments, 6 interdisciplinary departments. It houses 6478 students with 3938 undergraduate students and 2540 postgraduate students and about 500 research associates.

• Students aspiring for bachelor’s must qualify JEE Advanced examination. Entry to the five-year M.Tech/MBA programs and Dual degree programme will be done based on the CPI of students instead of JEE rank. For M.Des, GATE serves as the qualifier, while Joint Admission Test (JAM) is the qualifying exam for M.Sc program (2 years) and Common Admission Test (CAT) for MBA program.

• IIT Kanpur uses the Cumulative Grade Point Average (0 to 10) for student evaluation, where the grade points are converted to letters.

6. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

• Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee was formerly known as the University of Roorkee and Thomason College of Civil Engineering. It is the oldest technical institution in Asia established in 1847 in British India by the then lieutenant governor, Sir James Thomason.

• IIT Roorkee has 21 academic departments, 1 academic centre, 3 centres of excellence, 5 academic service centres and 3 supporting units.

• The institute runs eleven undergraduate (UG), one integrated dual degree, sixty one postgraduate (PG) and several doctoral programmes. JEE is the qualifying exam for B.Tech., B.Arch. and integrated M.Sc. integrated M.Tech course, GATE score is considered for PG programmes (engineering and architecture), Joint Admission Test (JAM) for PG program in fundamental science, and Common Admission Test (CAT) for MBA program.

• Every year students from more than 50 countries join IIT Roorkee for full-time or short-term training courses. IIT Roorkee uses the Cumulative Grade Point Average (0 to 10) for student evaluation, where the grade points are converted to letters.

7. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

• Founded in the year 1994, IITG is recognised as an Institute of National Importance by the GOI. Considered as the most beautiful campus in India, it is located on the northern banks of Brahmaputra and abuts the North Guwahati town of Amingaon.

• There are 5 academic centres, 5 extramural centre, 12 departments which offer B. Tech., B. Des., M. Des., M. Tech., M.A. (Development Studies), M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes.

• IIT Guwahati hosts Param-Ishan which is the fastest and most powerful super computer in northeastern, eastern and southern regions of the country.

• IIT Guwahati uses the Cumulative Grade Point Average (0 to 10) for student evaluation, where the grade points are converted to letters

8. Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

• Located in Sangareddy district, Telangana, India, IITH was established in 2008 and it is known for its research, academic strength, publications and proximity to IT and industrial hubs. The institute was placed under top ten institutes for three years, consecutively.

• It has 285 Undergraduate, 395 Masters and 474 Ph.D. students with 181 full-time faculty. There are 15 engineering and science departments, 7 interdisciplinary centres, and 110 laboratories on the campus, of which 50 are exclusively for research. It also houses a Incubation centre

• Admission to bachelor’s program is done through JEE Advanced exam, and GATE score is considered for doctoral programs.

• IIT Hyderabad uses the Cumulative Grade Point Average (0 to 10) for student evaluation, where the grade points are converted to letters

9. Anna University

• A state technical university, Anna university is located in Tamil Nadu. It was established in the year 1978. The main campus houses the College of Engineering, Guindy; Alagappa College of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, and three technical departments of the University of Madras. The Madras Institute of Technology is located in the Chromepet campus.

• The university offers courses in engineering and technology and follows a dual semester system.

• Admissions to the university is done on the basis of higher secondary marks for engineering course and for PG courses, TANCET and GATE scores are considered.

• University Grants Commission has recognized Anna University as “University with Potential for Excellence” (UPE) in the XII plan period. There are 8 university departments which is further divided into many categories.

10. National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli

• Formerly called as Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli, NITT was established in the year 1964. It is a public engineering and research institution. This institution is one of the oldest institutions of NITs and also recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

• The institute has 17 academic departments, 3 centres of excellence and 1 school. It is ranked 1^st for NITs.

• NIT Trichy offers UG and PG programmes in - engineering, science, architecture and management. The institute houses 250 faculty members and more than 3,400 enrolled students.

• Admissions to UG programmes is done through JEE Main exam, and GATE scores are considered for PG programmes, NIMCET for MCA, and CAT for MBA.