#India #HigherEd #Universities #IITs: "IIT Bombay, in Mumbai, is one of India’s most prestigious higher education institutes. It’s one of the five original IIT engineering schools established in the 1950s and ’60s as the Indian government’s attempt to emulate the success of the United States’ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Major expansions since 2008 have grown the system to 23 schools in total.
The IITs are now among the world’s top schools. Many young Indians apply for the entrance exams every year. Very few get in. In 2022, the IITs accepted just 1.83% of applicants, a rate more selective than that of U.S. Ivy League universities. The struggle to get into an IIT is so dramatic, Netflix has a multi-season scripted show, Kota Factory, about the country’s many prep schools that have sprung up to help coach applicants to pass the entrance exams.
Becoming an IIT one-percenter is often a ticket to tech success. Many big names in India’s startup scene are IIT alums. Of the country’s 108 unicorns, 68 were founded by at least one IIT graduate, according to data from analytics firm Tracxn.
The schools’ influence expands abroad too. Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies are run by “IITians.” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during a 2016 speech that going to IIT Kharagpur “changed the course of my life.” In 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives honored the graduates of IITs for their contribution to American society.
The IITs’ superpower is their tightly knit network of alums. Graduating from an IIT puts you in a special club."