Low demand blamed as India closes dozens of engineering schools

Swathes of engineering institutions have been closed in India over the past academic year because of declining demand and increased global competition, with more than 950 courses discontinued.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has confirmed the closure of 58 engineering and technical colleges in 2025-26.

Existing students will be able to complete their degrees, but first-year students will no longer be admitted.

Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh were the parts of the country that saw the most closures.

The AICTE cited low student admissions, a shortage of qualified faculty and infrastructure problems as reasons behind the shutdowns.

Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, studying at engineering colleges had become the default path for many Indian students. Engineering colleges were also heavily connected with outbound Indian student mobility, with many graduates going on to secure job opportunities outside India, particularly in the US.

But Narender Thakur, a professor in the department of economics at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, a constituent college in the University of Delhi, told Times Higher Education that the demand for private engineering college education has waned in India in recent years.

This was “due to lesser labour market demand”, he said, pointing to the country’s very high youth unemployment rate. According to a 2026 report by Azim Premji University, graduate unemployment is at nearly 40 per cent among 15- to 25-year-olds, and 20 per cent among those aged 25 to 29.

Unemployment in India and inflationary pressures have also reduced purchasing power, leading to lower demand for private engineering colleges, said Thakur. “The developed countries’ labour markets including the US are also facing problems of youth unemployment.”

In a competitive job market, Thakur suggested that Indian graduates and their families may also be looking outside India, highlighting concerns around “lower quality” and “insufficient infrastructure and human resources” in some engineering colleges in India.

An assistant director in international relations at a higher education institute in Chennai told Times Higher Education, “What’s interesting about this closure trend is that it’s not just a domestic story, it has implications for how India’s higher education sector is perceived globally.

“As international partners and students increasingly evaluate institutions based on outcomes and quality rather than just capacity or cost, closures like this could actually strengthen India’s credibility abroad by signalling a shift toward more accountable, outcome-driven education.

“Locally, this also reflects changing student priorities – employability and return on investment now matter more than simply holding a degree. Institutions that haven’t kept pace with these expectations are naturally seeing declining enrolment.”

rosalind.skillen@timeshighereducation.com