In a landmark move towards a flexible, networked academic experience, students at India's premier engineering institutes will, for the first time, be able to study across IIT campuses starting the academic year 2026-27, IIT Madras announced.
Under the initiative, students can take select courses or even spend a full term at another IIT, with credits seamlessly transferred back to their home institute. This marks a departure from rigid, rank-bound pathways, offering a model that mirrors global exchange programs while remaining rooted in the IIT system.
Highlighting the initiative, Professor V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, said, "We are mapping curricula across multiple programmes in various IITs. Once that is matched, our students from IIT Madras can spend a term in another IIT, or another student from IIT Kanpur or Delhi or Indore can come to the Madras campus to study some courses and earn credits, which we will transfer to the home institute."
"This marks a big move from rigid, rank-bound pathways to a more flexible, networked academic experience - one that mirrors global exchange models while staying rooted in the IIT system," IIT Madras said.
"With academic deans collaborating and approvals underway, this initiative promises greater choice, mobility, and interdisciplinary learning for students across India's premier tech institutions," the institute added.
With one rank, students can now access multiple campuses, enabling limitless learning opportunities.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras secured the top position in the NIRF 2025 overall ranking, followed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore.