Expecting the worst to happen for engineering colleges after the Eamcet counselling, the college managements sprang into action to lure students and parents ahead of counselling scheduled to begin from August 27. Managements fear about two lakh seats will go vacant after the counselling, one lakh each in the merit quota and management quota.
With engineering seats surpassing the number of Eamcet-qualified students this year, the managements are offering “freebies” to attract students such as free transport, laptops, and subsidised hostel and mess accommodation. Colleges have engaged educational consultants and brokers, who get them the mobile phone numbers of Eamcet applicants from JNTU-Hyderabad.
As many as 256 private engineering colleges across the state faced a crisis last year by recording less than 100 admissions after the counselling. While five colleges failed to get even a single student and had zero admissions, about 44 colleges had single-digit admissions with less than 10 seats. Similarly, 96 colleges had only between 11 and 50 seats filled.