Cap CS courses at 5 per institution: Expert panel

Bengaluru: An expert committee on 'Reforms in Technical Education' has recommended that no institution should offer more than five computer science-related courses and that the total number of seats in these courses in an institution should not exceed 900.

The committee, headed by former IIIT-B director S Sadagopan, has submitted its report to the state government. The committee’s task was to suggest how the government could restrict admissions to computer science-related programmes and deal with an excess supply of graduates vying for tech jobs. Also, by limiting the CS courses, the government wants to promote other streams of engineering.

Though the state government had plans to put a cap on seats for CS and related courses in the 2026-27 academic year, the committee opined that capping CS seats alone risks brain drain. 

Instead, it has recommended introducing AI components into core streams like mechanical, civil and automobile engineering.

This will be applicable to both private universities and private engineering colleges, as mentioned in the report.

It also suggested reducing overall CS seats by 17% from 2026-27 academic year and redirecting the freed seats to core + AI branches.

"Pair the cap with core-branch transformation. Capping CS alone risks brain drain. Introduce core + AI curriculum and faculty training, adopt the nine- step re-balancing formula as the annual sanction standard from 2026-27, refresh the three-year baseline from 2027-28 academic year," the committee recommended.

The committee also recommended embedding AI and machine learning as an analytical instrument to all undergraduate disciplines, not a standalone elective, with mathematics as the backbone. "Mandate test-to-failure product labs every semester from 2027-28, anchored in active learning and professional ethics. Scale core + AI competent core engineering output from 22,000 to 75,000 graduates per year," it said.

Meanwhile, for new institutions, it has recommended an intake of 60 students for any given course for any private university or private engineering college to begin with. Further, the committee recommended an increment of 60 intake per year, subject to a maximum of total 180 seats for the first four years.

Interestingly, to ensure quality, the committee recommended mandatory NBA (National Board of Accreditation) certificate for the institutions whose intake crosses more than 300 in a particular discipline within the two years from the date of publication of these regulations. The higher education department can initiate action against the institutions that fail to follow the guidelines.

To maintain standards in higher education, the committee recommended inspection of private universities once every two years and also surprise visits by a committee constituted by the Karnataka State Higher Education Council.

The committee also recommended the government to mandate sub-branch restructuring plans for three private universities, Presidency, Sapthagiri and Dayananda Sagar. It can be recalled that these institutions reportedly recorded the highest admissions for CS and related branches during the 2025-26 academic year.