Students’ preference for BTech colleges in their home state and towns grew significantly in 2021 compared to 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the annual Engineering Outlook Report 2022 rolled out by Shiksha.com. Unlike all other regions, aspirants from North India continue to prefer large cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, while looking for BTech colleges.

The university- and state-level exams have gained ground in 2021 and the popularity of entrance exams such as JEE Main has dropped. This trend can also be linked to the changing location preferences of students, says study. The preference for some of the popular entrance exams, such as JEE Main, VITEEE, BITSAT, Manipal MET, Kalinga KIITEE and LPU-NEST, NMAT, declined by nearly 10-30 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020. T

This decline was witnessed mostly among students of West and East India. While VITEEE and BITSAT has been declining gradually since 2018 and the numbers JEE Main have been fluctuating