Admissions to Indian institutes for NRI kids open soon

Admissions process will soon begin for NRI children keen to pursue undergraduate studies in India for the academic year 2012-13.

Indian government runs a special scheme - Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA),  for undergraduate courses in engineering for foreign nationals and persons of Indian origin (PIOs), non-resident Indians (NRIs).

These courses are run in the prestigious National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and other premier technical institutions in India. Students from more than 30 countries have been admitted under DASA so far, and the admission process, which is entirely online, will begin on 1 April.

Candidates can fill an online application form and make payment of fee electronically. This can then be followed by a signed copy of the online application form along with documents submitted to NITK, Surathkal, which is the co-ordinating institute for the courses.

The seats will be allotted based on SAT subject test scores and the preferences identified by the candidate. The application process is simple and involves creating an account, filling the form online and posting the form.

More importantly, the residential requirement for 2012-13 is relaxed from three years to two years for NRI candidates.

The PDF brochure can be downloaded online. 

Eligibility

Students must have passed the qualifying examination, i.e. Senior Secondary [10+2] or equivalent, with Physics and Mathematics as compulsory subjects and any one of Chemistry, Bio-technology, Computer Science, Biology as optional subjects.
AND
Students must have secured a minimum of 60% aggregate marks or 6.75 CGPA on a 10 point scale or equivalent grades in all the subjects of the qualifying examination. Candidates appearing for the qualifying examination with the above-mentioned compulsory subjects by 25 May
2012 and expecting their final results latest by 15 September 2012 may also apply.
AND
Candidates should have a minimum total score of 1440 in SAT Subject Tests (subjects: Maths level II, Physics and Chemistry).

Fees
First Year Tuition Fee $7,000 and non-refundable registration Fee $250 (total of $7250) must be paid along with the application form.
Foreign nationals from SAARC countries (except India) are entitled to a 50% Tuition fee waiver.  The fee can be paid either through Bank Transfer or Demand Draft or e-payment.

Similar scheme is also available for post-graduate studies - DASA PG (Post Graduate) Programme 2012 and the online application process will begin on 10 May 2012. Read the DASA PG 2012 brochure .

The Indian government also runs many other education programmes for the children of Indian Diaspora.