Vellore Institute of Technology

VIT University is a progressive educational institution that is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. Students here are encouraged on this journey by our committed faculty, world-class facilities and student-friendly educational systems. VIT University was founded in 1984 by Dr. G. Viswanathan, a former parliamentarian and minister in the Tamil Nadu Government, as a self-financing institution called the ‘Vellore Engineering College’. Since then the institution has grown from strength to strength. Conferred as a ‘Deemed University’ in 2001 by the UMHRD, VIT University currently offers 62 degree programs to over 29,000 students in its 2 campuses at Vellore and Chennai.

Admission is conducted on merit basis only, through online entrance exam conducted over a span of 20 days. VIT organises its own entrance exam "Vellore Institute of Technology Engineering Entrance Examination" (VITEEE). 2014 saw over 1,93,000 students appear for the entrance examination. To make the process transparent and efficient the exam has been conducted online since 2013. VITEEE 2016 will be conducted from April 6 to April 17, 2016 in three sessions.

Admissions to postgraduate courses is done through separate exam VITMEE held in the first week of June every year.

VIT offers academic programs in Engineering, Technology, Applied Sciences, and Management. It offers 20 undergraduate (UG) programs, 34 post graduate (PG), 4 integrated MS courses and 4 doctoral programs. VIT has consolidated its disciplines into 10 "Schools of Study" with the recent addition of the VIT Law School at its Chennai campus. Research centers are part of the schools to encourage collaboration between the research and coursework areas and provide opportunity for coursework students to participate in research projects. The university organizes many industrial workshops like Automotive Engineering workshops which was organized by ParaMek Technologies in GraVitas Fest and similar other workshops.

The university is among the first in India to implement the Fully Flexible Credit System (FFCS) which gives the students flexibility to make their own time tables by choosing the subjects and the faculties under whose guidance they want to study. This leads to increase in the students' academic performance and gives good learning experiences.

The institute follows a credit system for evaluating academic performance. The grade point average (GPA) is on a scale of 0 to 10. Courses are allotted number of credits according to their importance. Each academic year is divided into two semesters, and teaching programmes are organized around the credit system. Teaching includes lectures, tutorials, practicals, projects, seminars, dissertations, and field and industrial training. The grades are allotted on the basis of relative technique where class average and standard deviation is taken into account so as to ensure fair grades for all students regardless of different marks evaluators.

The CGPA is not the same as the American one. In India some credits might be awarded during Bachelor studies for co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, while during the Master programme this is not allowed.

Vellore Campus

VIT has a lush green campus which spreads about 350 acres. It is divided in two by the Chennai–Bangalore railway line. The academic portion of the campus and the women's hostels are to the south of the railway tracks while the northern portion houses the men's hostels and the outdoor stadium. Both the parts are connected by three subways. The campus resembles a city, with lake, gardens, lawns, residential complexes, food courts, hair salons and wide roads. The campus has its own water supply and backup electricity supply along with shopping complexes to cater to the needs of residents.