Tech-led colleges and universities

Colleges built around software and industry, rather than lectures alone

Most Indian engineering colleges work the same way. A student joins a four-year BTech course. The syllabus is set by the university the college belongs to, and changes slowly. Teaching is mostly lectures, and marks come mostly from exams.

A few new colleges in India are built differently, more like software companies. This Market Segment is about them.

What makes them different

They teach one subject

Most offer a residential degree in computer science, with students living on campus.

Industry designs the course

The curriculum is written with working engineers, and it changes as the industry changes.

They teach on their own software

Classes, assignments and progress run on a learning platform the college built itself, with AI to help each student.

Projects replace lectures

Students learn by building things, not by memorising for exams.

They sell on placements

They market themselves on how many graduates got jobs, and at what salaries.

The usual college and a tech-led one: the usual college teaches a four-year BTech on a syllabus set by the university, mostly through lectures and exams; a tech-led college teaches a computer-science degree written with working engineers, on its own platform, through projects, and sells itself on placements.

How they award a degree. In India, only a recognised university can award a degree. A new college built by a company usually works with an existing university. The university awards the degree, and the company designs and runs the course. (More on degrees run inside partner universities in Market Segment 42.3, School and university management software.)

Who does what in a tech-led degree: the company designs and runs the course, and an existing university awards the degree, because only a recognised university can.

Online degrees. Established institutes also teach this way, online. Several of India's best-known institutes now offer online degrees to people who are already working, so that they can study without leaving their jobs.

Every company named here has posted software engineering jobs in India. Famous companies that don't actively hire software engineers in India are left out.

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New colleges and online degrees

New colleges and online degrees

The new colleges

Newton School of Technology

with engineers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, runs a residential computer-science degree. It was built by Newton School, which also runs coding bootcamps. (More on Newton School in Market Segment 42.5, Upskilling platforms and coding bootcamps.) Newton School of Technology has the most job postings in this Market Segment.

Polaris School of Technology

with engineers in Bengaluru, runs a residential computer-science degree designed with industry.

One institution here is long established instead

BITS, Pilani

with engineers in Bengaluru, is one of India's leading engineering institutes. It runs online degrees for working professionals, and virtual labs, in which students run experiments on a computer instead of in a laboratory.

The college built around AI.

The new colleges promise that their graduates will work alongside AI from their first day. They design their courses around projects rather than lectures. Their test is whether their placement results hold up as entry-level work changes.

That is the software-first college: a computer-science degree designed with industry, taught on the college's own platform and sold on placements. Beside the new colleges, established institutes are taking their degrees online.

Who they hire

Who these companies hire, and for what, is on What edtech companies hire for.

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