Vellore Institute of Technology

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private deemed university located in Katpadi in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.

The institution offers 66 Undergraduate, 58 Postgraduate, 15 Integrated, 2 Research and 2 M.Tech. Industrial Programmes. It has campuses in Vellore and Chennai and three sister universities as distinct state private universities in Andhra Pradesh, Bhopal and Bengaluru.

History
VIT was founded in 1984 as Vellore Engineering College, as a self-financing engineering college under Anna University by its founder Dr. G. Viswanathan. In 2001, It became Deemed university.

Academics and research
VIT's academic disciplines is divided into 20 Schools of Study in its Vellore and Chennai campus.

VIT implements the Fully Flexible Credit System (FFCS) which gives the students the freedom to choose and make their own timetables by choosing the subjects and faculties for the next semester.

33 Professors of VIT are among the top 2% of scientists in the world, as shown in a survey conducted by Stanford University, USA in 2021.

Reputation and rankings
Internationally, VIT was ranked 1001–1200 in the QS World University Rankings of 2023 and 173 in Asia. It was ranked 801–1000 in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2023, 251–300 in Asia in 2022 and 301–350 among emerging economies. It was ranked 601–700 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities of 2022.

The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) by the MoE ranked VIT 17 overall in India in 2023, 8 among universities and 11 among Engineering institutes.

VIT was ranked first among private engineering colleges in India by Outlook India in 2022. India Today ranked it 20 among engineering colleges in 2020.

Accreditation
VIT has been accredited with the following:


 * A++ grade by NAAC (National Accreditation and Assessment Council), it has completed 4 cycles of accreditation and is going for the 5th cycle.
 * It is preparing for the third round of accreditation by the NBA (National Board of Accreditation).
 * It is accredited by the International accrediting agencies ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology).
 * ACBSP (Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs) has accredited the VIT Business School.
 * ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has accredited the BBA program.

Riviera
Riviera, a cultural and sports festival, has been taking place on the VIT Vellore campus since its first edition in 2002. The festival is mainly organized by the institute's students and features various activities such as sports, literary events, gaming competitions, music and dance contests, cultural parades, and professional shows, all of which draw significant attention.

Controversies
In October 2013, two female students were suspended after they helped organize an online opinion survey of female VIT students, focusing on issues of safety and inequality. Commenting on the issue, VIT vice president Sekar Viswanathan said: "'The students started a campaign based on the misplaced notion that the university discriminates against women, which is false. They were taken home by their parents.'"

Notable alumni

 * Papias Malimba Musafiri, Rwandan Minister of Education
 * Bindu Madhavi
 * Dhyan Sreenivasan
 * Shubhangi Swaroop, first female pilot in Indian Navy
 * Indhuja Ravichandran, a Model and Actress
 * Poornima Ravi, Actress and YouTuber
 * Kaveri Priyam
 * Atulya Kaushik, co-founder and CEO, PrepInsta Prime
 * Utkarsh Dwivedi, IAS, Rank 5 in the UPSC
 * Anand Prakash, Indian ethical hacker