BITS Pilani (Birla Institute of Technology and Science) is one of the most prestigious institutes of India and it now plans to be a top International institute with a global reputation. As a step in this direction, BITS has planned to open its doors to students from around the world for the first time in its long and illustrious history.

This will also serve to further BITS’s quest to obtain the status of a top 50 BRICS university in the world.

This year BITS will be admitting a maximum of 50 foreign students at its Hyderabad campus for over a dozen types of undergraduate programmes.

The admissions will commence from August of this year.

Prof. VS Rao, the director of BITS’s Hyderabad campus has said that these 50 students will be ones having “non-Indian passports only”. “We are expecting foreign students from Saarc countries to join this year.

Seeing the response, we would extend the facility to other Indian campuses at Pilani and Goa with expanded slots in the following years,” he also added.

In keeping with his comment BITS has also announced that they will be admitting foreign students to its campuses at both Pilani as well as Goa in years to come.

The Director of the Hyderabad campus has also stated that a prime reason for admitting foreign students to the campus is to provide a global appearance to BITS and to inspire varied perspectives as well as critical thinking in the domestic students thanks to the presence of an international eco-system. The global touch will also help the university attract internationally reputed faculty as well as healthy international rankings. Prof. VS Rao also believes that BITS has all the tools necessary to provide” international quality education” and also has an “excellent eco-system” to house these students. The director has also added the campus at Hyderabad has been chosen over the one at Pilani owing to its international facilities, presence of international companies and also the cosmopolitan culture.

The director Prof. VS Rao has also emphasized that the foreign students who obtain admission at the university will have to lodge with their Indian counterparts at the same hostels as he feels that they will have to take to the Indian culture and mindset as most these overseas students will later have to work at various International companies which have offices in India. Prof. Rao has also added that the number of international students will be “not more than 15 percent” per class.

In keeping with its expansion programme BITS also has strategies to raise the number of total students which it admits to its campuses at Pilani, Hyderabad and Goa from 12,000 to 18,000. Apart from increased student admissions the prestigious University also plans to place much more emphasis and importance on wide-ranging research on a variety of topics and on entrepreneurship.

BITS has however assured that, unlike several other private universities, it will not be diluting its standards in its race for international acclaim and expansion, but will instead improve them even more. In order to do the same the university has projected an expenditure of over Rs 1500 crore over the coming five years in order to upgrade and create better infrastructure at its campuses such as up-to-date research labs and classrooms, playgrounds and housing facilities as well setting up associations with institutes of global repute and building centres of excellence.

Coming back to the overseas students, the admission criteria will be based on their SAT scores as well as their SAT subject scores. The students will need to have a minimum 75 percent in Math, Physics and Chemistry in their plus two results. Apart from that they should also have not less than 60 per cent in the individual subjects.The annual admission fee is $6900, including hostel fees. There are also merit-based scholarships ranging from 30-80 percent on the total fee.