TNEA: Over 1.45 lakh students to pursue engineering courses in 2025
More than 40,000 seats still vacant despite demand being the highest this year
Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA)
CHENNAI: Now that the Tamil Nadu Engineering Counselling (TNEA-2025) has almost come to an end, with only a few supplementary sessions remaining, more than 1.45 lakh students will be pursuing various engineering courses this year in the State.
The demand for engineering seats was highest this year with more than 3.02 lakh applicants, compared to the 2024-figure of over 2.49 lakh.
However, after three rounds of counselling, only 1,45,481 students had confirmed the engineering seats, according to the Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE). “The number of available engineering seats this year is around 1.87 lakh in Anna University and its affiliated colleges across the State. Therefore, more than 40,000 engineering seats are vacant this year,” pointed out the official.
Similar to previous years, Computer Science and its related courses were the most preferred by students. T Purushothaman, secretary, Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission (TNEA) 2025, said: “During the first round of counselling itself, all the most-preferred seats in Anna University, its department colleges and few well-performing affiliated institutions in the south, were all filled. Out of the total 1,45,481 students who got the seats this year, around 14,143 are government school students, who availed 7.5% horizontal reservation.”
He added that supplementary counselling would be held from August 21-23 for students who passed the Class 12 board exam in the second attempt by June this year. “Additionally, students in all categories, who missed the counselling will participate in this supplementary session. Around 15,800 applications have been received. The exact number of vacancies in the colleges will be known only after August 23,” stated the official.
L Krishnamurthy, a senior career counsellor in the city, opined that though the number of engineering aspirants have risen to more than three lakh this year, many were chasing the trending courses. “This is a cause of concern. Also, many students who got Computer Science and its related courses may have not selected the right colleges,” he pointed out.
Concurring with him was Prof K Lakshmanan from a private college in the outskirts of the city, who added that students get frustrated and confused when they don’t get Computer Science and its related courses. “Several students were opted out of the TNEA-2025. They also assume that these trending courses will immediately fetch job opportunities and get a good salary. That may not be the case, but there are not enough career counsellors to guide them to choose the right courses too,” he averred. “Students also do not search online if such counselling facilities are available or not.”
IN A NUTSHELL
Total number of applications: 3,01,026 (highest ever)
In 2024: 2,49,918
Counselling sessions
Round 1: Academic general including 7.5% reservation for 28,896 students
Round 2: 62,289 students
Round 3: 52,168 students
Total number of Academic General with 7.5% reservation in three rounds: 1,43,353
Total number of students under special categories: 2,128
Total number of students with seats: 1,45,481
Courses in high demand
Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cyber Security
