IIT Allows Students To Study Across Campuses Starting This Academic Year

In a major step towards a more flexible and interconnected academic system, students at India’s premier engineering institutes will soon be able to study across IIT campuses starting from the 2026–27 academic year, IIT Madras has announced.

Under this initiative, students can enroll in select courses or even spend an entire semester at another IIT, with credits seamlessly transferred back to their home institute. The move breaks away from traditional, rank-bound academic structures and introduces a model similar to global exchange programmes, while remaining within the IIT ecosystem.

Explaining the plan, IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti said that efforts are underway to align curricula across various IITs. Once harmonised, students from IIT Madras will be able to study at other IITs for a term, while students from IIT Kanpur, Delhi, or Indore can likewise attend courses at the Chennai campus and transfer credits back to their parent institutions.

The institute described the initiative as a significant shift towards a networked learning model that promotes flexibility, academic mobility, and interdisciplinary exposure. With deans across IITs working together and approvals in progress, the programme is expected to expand opportunities for students across the country’s top technical institutions.

By enabling access to multiple campuses through a single admission rank, the initiative aims to open up broader academic choices and learning experiences.

Meanwhile, IIT Madras has continued its strong performance nationally, securing the top spot for the seventh consecutive year in the NIRF 2025 overall rankings, followed by IISc Bengaluru.