Engineering colleges in K'taka, TN gear up to attract Andhra students

Engineering colleges in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are getting the ground ready to draw more number of students from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh this academic year by tying up with education service consultants here.

Making things simple for these colleges and the private consultants is the well-established track record of the institutes in successfully delivering the annual campus placements coupled with tie-ups with central research institutes present in these states and the positive student referrals, students said.

Last year, around 25,000 students from the united Andhra Pradesh had sought admissions in professional colleges outside the state. A majority of them were tapped by the colleges in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, followed by Rajasthan and Gujarat, said sources in the consortium of managements of professional colleges here. This year, the number could be slightly higher.

In the last two-three years, attracted by the growing student interest, these colleges had started liaisoning with the education consultants here and other private stakeholders to know the requirements of students and their parents.

Speaking to Business Standard, city-based Siksha Overseas Education Ltd said the managements in the neighbouring colleges had approached them early this month to promote their institutes during this academic year. While the student performance in IIT-JEE and AIEEE is considered as the benchmark in awarding admissions, aggressive promotion would help in a greater visibility, according to these colleges.

Some education consultants said even students had enquired about the colleges in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. According to them, the common query by parents is “do they commence classes early and what is the placements record”.

Another city-based overseas medical admissions consultant said MBBS colleges in the neighbouring states were aiming big this year as around 2,000 students, who pursue medical courses in Ukraine would now have to be accommodated elsewhere due to ongoing conflict in that county. Cashing in the opportunity, China, Russia and Kazaksthan are pitching in a big way to attract them.

While Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) and Manipal Institute of Technology remain the top pick for students here, new names like Sastra University, Vels, SRM, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering are witnessing rising interest in Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, Karnataka colleges including SDM College of Engineering and Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College are being widely tracked.

While the quality of education has been the single biggest contributing factor to the drop in admissions in colleges here, neighbouring states had been steadfast in ensuring high-quality education, state-of-the-art modern research labs besides providing student internships.

When contacted, the placements officer at Sastra University, Thanjavur, said the main driver for them was higher placements. “In the last academic year, our students were recruited by L&T, TCS, Tech Mahindra with average compensation of Rs 4-5 lakh per annum,” he said.

The academic affairs department at VIT, Vellore, said, students admitted to colleges in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were receiving hands-on experince on industry processes as many local colleges had been tying up with industrial houses and central research institutes under their academic exchange programme.