A group of autonomous engineering and technology institutes called the Indian Institute of Technology or more popular as IIT’s were established as Institutes of National Importance by the Government of India. IIT’s find a place among some of the best engineering and technology institutions in the world. This status is maintained by the autonomous nature of each IIT and a common IIT council joining other IIT’s together as well as overseas their administration. In addition to B.Tech (four years) and M.Tech (two years) programs, Top IIT Colleges in India offer graduate degrees like M.Sc. in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, MBA, PhD and other programs.
A highly competitive joint entrance examination called IIT-JEE is conducted yearly once in the month of April-May to select around 4500 undergraduate candidates. The selection of the students aspiring to study for M.tech is determined by the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). Admissions to other programs is based on Common Admission Test (CAT), Joint Admission Test for Masters (JAM) and Common Entrance Examination for Design (CEED). In India IIT’s are among those few institutes which can award degree in technology (B.Tech) at undergraduate levels as opposed to bachelor of engineering (BE) awarded by other universities. Top IIT Colleges in India are the members of LAOTSE, an international network of European and Asian universities, which facilitates exchange of students and scholars with universities abroad.