Sharp rise in computer science, AI seats leaves lakhs vacant in other engineering branches: Experts

NEW DELHI: A sharp rise in undergraduate engineering intake across the country is also causing swathes of BTech seats to remain vacant.

According to data from the top technical education regulator, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the 2024-25 academic session alone saw an increase of over 2 lakh engineering seats, most in undergraduate programmes and in branches such as computer science engineering and artificial intelligence.

However, at the same time, this expansion has drawn away students from core branches and mid-level private engineering colleges across states. Even after multiple rounds of counselling, tens of thousands of seats are vacant.

As Careers360 earlier covered, over 30,000 seats in Karnataka engineering colleges found no takers even after three rounds of KEA and COMEDK counselling. KEA counselling is for allotting government seats; COMEDK for seats in private colleges participating in the exam. In consequence, the admission cut-offs have also reduced dramatically, even at well-regarded colleges.

But the problem is not restricted to one state.

According to data disclosed on the website, more than 30,000 engineering seats in Gujarat are vacant after the final GUJCET counselling round. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, 54,587 seats were vacant after the third round of counselling, said news reports; the state saw its UG and PG seats go up by 39,978 for the 2024-25 academic year.

States like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are struggling to fill seats in core branches as well. AP saw its seats go up by over 31,000 and now, according to the Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering Colleges Managements Association, almost 1.2 lakh seats are vacant.

In Kerala and Gujarat, the increases were small, 4,623 and 3,075, respectively. To deal with the problem and remain viable, institutions have slashed seats in core branches, some by as many as 50%, experts told Careers360.

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BTech Seats: AICTE and increased intake

In 2023, the AICTE lifted the moratorium on new colleges and courses , leading to the sharp increase in intakes.

According to engineering education experts across states, the most notable increase has been in BTech CSE, AI and allied branches. In some cases the expansion has happened without a corresponding increase of teaching faculty and other resources, said a professor at a private engineering college in Tamil Nadu, asking not to be named.

According to data shared by AICTE, Tamil Nadu has seen the highest increase in intake in its UG and PG engineering courses, followed by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Given below are the 10 states with the highest numbers of seats added.

10 states with most increase in engineering college seats (UG and PG)

In Karnataka, increased fees was cited as another reason for seats going vacant.

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Computer science engineering Vs the rest

“Many colleges have boosted seats in computer science where students have taken admission in these branches, leaving core branches vacant,” stated the professor from Tamil Nadu. He added that the number of engineering colleges has also gone up.

Gujarat institutions report a similar situation. “Private engineering colleges are opening and we don't have that many students to take admission,” said an engineering professor in a public university who also didn’t want to be named. “Further, many colleges have closed down their core engineering branches like mechatronics and textile, and due to an increase in intake in computer science and artificial intelligence, maximum students want to go to these branches.”

He stated that almost 50% of the engineering seats are vacant out of 70,000 seats. “Many colleges that have opened up new branches haven’t received even a single student this year,” he added.

In Andhra Pradesh, core branches like mechanical and civil engineering have had fewer takers this year.

M Bala Theja, associate professor at Santhiram Engineering College, Nandyala, a private engineering college in Andhra Pradesh, said: “ While computer science and AI-related branches are seeing increased admission, mechanical, civil and electrical engineering branches are witnessing very small [numbers of] students opting for the course. After AICTE introduced new branches under CSE, many students are not receiving admission in core branches as colleges are focussed more on computer science-related branches. Many local colleges are not offering core branch courses.”

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The issue of increased seats has also led to the problem of infrastructure, especially in private colleges. In Tamil Nadu, many private colleges don't have the infrastructure or faculty to handle the expansion. “One faculty is shown in different colleges. Many students don't prefer those colleges thus leading to vacant seats,” said another professor from a private college.

Rimmi Vaghela, research scholar and secretary, All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO), Gujarat, stated that the issue of new engineering colleges and lack of infrastructure and teaching staff is not new to the state. “There are many new private engineering colleges opened now. Many of these colleges don’t have proper infrastructure, no permanent faculty or non-teaching staff but charge high fees,” she said.

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Kerala has followed the general trend – government college seats have filled while many private ones remain vacant. “The main issue for the core branches in the state is lack of employment opportunities and extremely low salary packages of Rs 20,000 per month,” stated a research scholar in mechanical engineering at a government college in Kerala. “After the lifting of the moratorium, the result was not good, especially in private engineering colleges with decreased placements overall. Further, despite the intake has increased and newer changes brought in the curriculum, the quality of education is not up to the mark, he added.

The professor from Gujarat’s government engineering college stated that increased intake in computer sciences and its allied branches has unbalanced engineering education in general.

“Private colleges have increased the seats of computer science and other core branches' seats are vacant. This shows a lack of balance and focus on all branches, especially the core engineering seats. The council (AICTE) should focus on all branches rather than one and if they want to allow more new colleges, infrastructure should be taken into consideration,” he added.