Policy loopholes lead to imbalance in engineering seats in Karnataka

“It has been a month since the conclusion of the Common Entrance Test (CET-2025) counseling for admission to engineering courses 2025-26. However, out of 150 seats available in Computer Science Engineering (CSE) in our university, 40 seats are still vacant. Even though the fee for these seats is the same as the government quota, no student is coming forward,” he lamented. Kalyana district of Karnataka.

“Though the government has reduced the fees for civil, mechanical and other traditional engineering courses this time, the seats are still vacant,” said the principal of a government engineering college in a district neighboring Bengaluru.

In contrast, thousands of engineering seats have been filled in private universities in most of the tier 1 and 2 cities of Karnataka and these institutions have also taken steps to fill additional seats. This has led to allegations that “discriminatory policies” imposed by the state government on private universities and government, aided and private engineering colleges are the reason for the huge gap in filling engineering seats.

Sources claim that the government has allowed private universities to start new courses and increase the number of seats in existing courses without any hindrance and they have also been given exemption from seeking permission from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). AICTE permission is mandatory for government, aided and private engineering colleges to start new courses and increase seats.

As a result, private universities take steps every year to fill their quotas quickly without waiting for government permission, which causes most students to enroll in private universities. Meanwhile, government-aided and private engineering colleges are lagging behind in complying with AICTE norms.

While a total of 95,366 engineering quotas are available in 150 private engineering colleges in the state, there are another 33,300 engineering quotas in 27 private universities. On the one hand, there is mushrooming of engineering colleges in tier-1 cities like Bengaluru, Mysuru and others. On the other hand, colleges in tier 2 and tier 3 cities are in danger of closing without students.

Seat matrix

There are a total of 229 engineering colleges in the state for 2025-26; of these, 27 are government and constituent colleges of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), nine are aided engineering colleges, 16 are private minority colleges, 150 are private engineering colleges, two are considered universities and 27 are private universities.

A total of 1,53,916 engineering seats are available in these colleges, out of which 72,506 seats have been filled through the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA). The remaining 32,231 are COMED-K seats and 49,179 are executive quota seats.

Of these, all seats in government engineering colleges are government seats and are filled by KEA through CET. In private and aided colleges, 45% of government quotas are filled from KEA, 30% from COMED-K and the remaining 25% from management quotas.

Private universities have given 40% of the seats to the government, with the remaining 60% being filled through entrance exams conducted by universities or other central institutions such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Since AICTE is the apex body of all technical courses in India, it is mandatory for government, aided and private engineering colleges to take permission from AICTE to open new branches and increase the seats.

As per AICTE norms, student-teacher ratio should be 1:20 in all technical institutions and there should be 1 professor, 3 associate professors and 8 assistant professors (1:3:8 ratio) for 60 students.

For this, the professor and associate professor had to have a doctorate in the relevant subject. Assistant professors, on the other hand, had to have passed BE or M.Tech with first class.

Infrastructure related to buildings, toilets, libraries, laboratories and other facilities should be mandatory. And for example, in the CSE laboratory, there should be one computer for every 10 students (1:10).

While all government-aided, aided and private engineering colleges comply with these rules, private universities with around 20 acres of land, necessary infrastructure and faculty and non-teaching staff can be operated with permission from the University Grants Commission (UGC). The state government has exempted these universities from seeking permission from AICTE to open new colleges, offer courses and increase seats. Universities were allowed to operate after obtaining permission from the UGC and No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Karnataka government.

Decisions on infrastructure, opening of new courses, examination system, fee determination, quota increase and other issues are taken at the Board of Governors (BoG) meetings. These are then submitted to the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), which appoints an expert committee, examines the university concerned and issues an NOC.

Impact on other institutions

Due to the exemption granted to them, these universities have increased many quotas, especially in the CSE branch.

For example, in a private university in Bengaluru, there are a total of 4,320 engineering seats in six streams for first-year engineering courses; of these, 4,020 are for CSE and related courses only. In another, 2,400 of the 3,420 engineering seats available are CSE related. In another college in the city, 1,620 of the total 2,640 seats available in 11 branches are reserved for CSE engineering. Of the total 3,600 seats available at a private university college in south Bengaluru, 2,340 are for CSE.

On the contrary, the number of CSE seats available in 17 government engineering colleges across the State is not more than 640.

The exemption from AICTE norms for private universities has angered many.

“Even if we get an additional seat in our colleges, VTU and the Ministry of Technical Education (DTE) do not approve. All government, management and COMED-K quota records will be examined. However, the government does not examine 60% of the seats in private universities. There is a policy in government degree granting colleges that no student should be sent back without being accepted. The same is followed in private universities. They accept every student who comes. That is why admissions are made to all other engineering branches. Colleges are being hit,” one claimed. principal of government engineering college.

Member of the National Executive Council of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) in New Delhi. Sangappa BS said, “Only three of the 27 private universities in Karnataka have received AICTE approval. If they only show flashy buildings and increase seats abnormally, the quality of education will suffer. Increasing seats from 3,000 to 5,000 will kill the spirit of technical education.” he argued.

“Due to lack of availability of qualified faculty members, not all private universities have teachers who meet UGC and AICTE standards. Moreover, private universities do not comply with the teacher-student ratio. For example, colleges with around 2,500 CSE seats require a total of 125 people to teach CSE subjects. However, no university has recruited such a large number of teachers. Our organization has given representation to the Union Ministry of Education and UGC to regulate private universities,” he said.

How much does intake affect the quality of education?

According to the principal of a leading private engineering college, “The quality of education cannot be at the desired level in colleges that enroll large numbers of students. Existing laboratories and computers will not be sufficient for all students. Moreover, it will not be possible to provide adequate skills to such a large number of students. As a result, campus layout will also be affected and will increase unemployment.”

He said engineering colleges affiliated to VTU have a separate curriculum approved by AICTE. “Will candidates who study the curriculum of private universities without AICTE approval be recognized in foreign companies?”

On the other hand, the principal of a top engineering college in Bengaluru tried to make the case that the increase in the number of seats is necessary to meet the Union Government’s target of increasing the Gross Enrollment Ratio to 50% in the next 10 years.

“Recently, AICTE has made many changes in its rules and allows government and private engineering colleges to increase the seats from 500 to 600 seats. The job forecast is also high as there are more software companies in Bengaluru. Therefore, all private colleges and private universities have taken steps to increase CSE seats. Placement is also increasing in the Information Technology (IT) sector. To overcome the faculty shortage, AICTE has allowed the recruitment of practicing professors (industry professionals). Colleges are recruiting can do, 20% to practice professors,” he explained.

Regulatory action

The Karnataka government is considering passing a law on the Telangana model to curb mushrooming of engineering colleges in tier-I cities, increase the number of seats in branches like CSE and regulate private universities.

In recent years, 12 Higher Education Institutions have submitted proposals to the Karnataka government for the establishment of private universities. Eight of these were allowed during the previous BJP government, but the State government is yet to issue an official order. All these applications have been put on hold for now as the state government has decided to change the rules for granting permission to private universities.

Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar said: Hindu“There is a need to freeze the increase in CSE seats to prevent mushrooming of private engineering colleges in tier-1 cities and to regulate private universities. We plan to bring rules on the Telangana model.”

“Last year, the Telangana government imposed restrictions on increasing CSE seats in private engineering colleges. This was challenged by some private engineering college managements in the Supreme Court. It is learned that the court, which upheld the Telangana government’s case, rejected the petition of private engineering colleges,” he said.

“There is a need to freeze the development of CSE seats to prevent mushrooming of private engineering colleges in tier-1 cities and regulate private universities.”MC SudhakarMinister of Higher Education