AICTE Data Shows Computer Applications and Management Lead New Institutional Capacity

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved 5,099 new institutions during the 2024-25 academic year, adding 7,49,872 seats across various programmes, according to its Annual Report 2024-25. The expansion was dominated by Computer Applications and Management, while Engineering and Technology accounted for a comparatively smaller portion of the newly sanctioned capacity.

Computer Applications topped the list with 3,959 approved institutions and a combined intake of 3,65,848 students. Management followed closely, with 3,500 institutions and 3,47,644 approved seats. Together, the two disciplines contributed more than 7.1 lakh of the total 7.5 lakh seats approved during the year.

Engineering and Technology, by comparison, received approval for 107 institutions with a combined intake of 34,045 seats. Other categories recorded considerably smaller numbers. Design had 17 approved institutions and 1,385 seats, while Hotel Management and Catering accounted for eight institutions and 790 seats. Applied Arts and Crafts and Planning received approvals for one and three institutions, with 60 and 100 seats respectively.

The data also indicate that most of the new capacity was concentrated at the undergraduate level. Of the total approved intake, 7,05,408 seats, or approximately 94%, were for undergraduate programmes. Postgraduate courses accounted for 29,974 seats, while diploma programmes contributed 14,490 seats.

The latest figures represent notable changes across several categories compared with 2023-24. During that year, AICTE recorded 90 new Engineering and Technology institutions with a combined approved intake of 41,512 seats across diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Management recorded 105 new institutions and 13,020 approved postgraduate seats, while MCA had 53 institutions with 4,890 seats. The earlier report did not list Computer Applications as a separate category.

Other 2023-24 approvals included six Design institutions with 300 seats, four Applied Arts and Crafts institutions with 440 seats, two Planning institutions with 58 seats and one Hotel Management and Catering institution with 120 seats. The latest data therefore point to a major expansion in technology and management-focused higher education capacity.