IIT cross-campus exchange programme marks strategic shift

India’s premier engineering institutions, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), are set to become more interconnected from this academic year with the launch of a structured cross-campus academic exchange programme that will allow students to enrol in select courses at another IIT campus and spend an entire semester away from their home institution.

The move, which will allow credits to be transferred between institutions, marks a major shift from the traditionally rigid framework established by the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission into IITs. Previously, large-scale transfers were not permitted due to concerns about “rank integrity”.

Since seats were allocated solely based on JEE rank and preferences, unrestricted movement within campuses was considered to undermine that framework.

According to V Ramgopal Rao, group vice-chancellor for BITS Pilani campuses and former director of IIT Delhi, cross-campus mobility is an important strategic shift.

For decades, entry rank often determined the entire trajectory of a student within a rigid framework. Introducing structured mobility signals a move towards flexibility and academic choice, Rao said.

“It is also aligned with the larger direction of reform in Indian higher education, where credit portability and multidisciplinary exposure are increasingly emphasised. Among premier technical institutions, this is a significant reform and could serve as a model for other institutional clusters,” Rao told University World News.

Student mobility

To enable this mobility, IITs are currently conducting detailed curriculum mapping across campuses. Once course structures are aligned, students will be able to take approved subjects at another IIT, and their credits will receive formal recognition from their parent institution.

The proposal was discussed extensively at a recent meeting of academic deans from all IITs, where credit transfer and student mobility emerged as a key priority.

“We are mapping curricula across multiple programmes in the various IITs,” IIT Madras director V Kamakoti told The Times of India.

“Once that is matched, our students from IIT Madras can spend a term in another IIT, or a student from IIT Kanpur or Delhi or Indore can come to the IIT Madras campus to study some courses and earn credits that we will transfer to the home institute.”

According to Rao, cross-campus mobility is a natural step for a system that has reached a certain level of maturity. The IITs are individually strong, but together they represent an even larger academic universe.

Allowing a student to spend a semester at another IIT opens up access to specialised courses, niche research labs and faculty expertise that may not exist at the home campus, he said.

“At BITS Pilani, we have allowed semester mobility across our five campuses for a couple of years now. Students move for a semester, experience a different academic environment and transfer credits seamlessly.

“It broadens perspective without diluting academic rigour. If the IITs implement this with clarity and trust, it can deepen academic integration and improve global perception. Leading university systems around the world function this way,” said Rao.

The proposed system will initially operate in a limited and carefully monitored manner. Each IIT will determine the number of visiting students it can host based on existing infrastructure, faculty strength, and accommodation capacity.

Changing realities

The initiative reflects changing academic and professional realities. Students are increasingly travelling between cities for internships, research projects, training programmes, and industry collaborations.

Under the new framework, a student pursuing an internship in another city can simultaneously enrol in a course at the nearest IIT campus, ensuring seamless academic continuity.

Essentially, IITs are moving from operating as parallel, self-contained institutions to a coordinated national network. This model will be similar to the International Semester Exchange Programme, which allows students to study abroad while earning transferable credits.

Rao said most global universities operate on academic trust and well-defined credit equivalence. Students can move, but systems ensure quality and comparability. The lesson is simple. Mobility must be academically meaningful and administratively simple.

“For India, this will require synchronised academic calendars, transparent credit mapping and strong digital systems. Without that backbone, mobility can become cumbersome. With it, the system becomes more dynamic,” Rao said.

Academic benefits

Academics have welcomed the initiative as a forward-thinking reform that promotes academic mobility, strengthens collaboration between campuses, and fosters a more dynamic IIT ecosystem.

Rao said such mobility enhances attractiveness to foreign collaborators and students. International collaborators look for scale and flexibility. A system where students and faculty can interact across campuses creates a broader research and academic footprint.

“For international students, the idea of spending a semester at more than one leading campus within a single system is appealing. For research partners, it enables multi-campus supervision and joint projects more easily.

“Ultimately, the impact will depend on execution. If implemented well, this is not just an administrative change. It is a cultural shift towards a more open and integrated academic ecosystem,” he said.