(‘The Right Choice’ is a series by The Indian Express that addresses common questions, misconceptions, and doubts surrounding undergraduate admissions. You can read the stories here.)
Whether the Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree and the Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree are the same and offer similar prospects is a question many grapple with. Both are four-year engineering undergraduate courses, so why the confusion?
JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur, Vice-Chancellor Dheeraj Sanghi explained that the difference between the two was simply “historical” and that the recurring belief that the BE course was theoretical as opposed to BTech being practical was a “misconception”.
“There is no difference. Historically, some institutions offered BE and Master in Engineering (ME) programmes. The curriculum and the subjects offered in BE and BTech are all the same…If a student wants to choose it, they just have to look at the institute they want to pursue the degree from,” he said.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) chairperson Anil Sahasrabudhe said, “In the past, the course was known as Licentiate in engineering, then BSc Engineering. Subsequently, the course’s name was changed to Bachelor of Engineering. Older universities such as the Banaras Hindu University and the Indian Institute of Science offered the BE programme.”
He explained that the nomenclature changed only in 1951 after the establishment of the first Indian Institutes of Technology or IITs, among them IIT Kharagpur.
A senior official from Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani, which offers the BE programme, told The Indian Express that the university had been offering the BE degree for years.
Why the preference for BTech then?
The shift towards a technology-driven world could be a reason, said experts. IIT Delhi Director Rangan Banerjee said the term BTech gained currency with the IITs and became popular as private universities started calling their engineering degrees BTech and not BE.
“The trend is towards learning technology and that is why BTech has become more popular, even though the curriculum is essentially the same for both,” said Sanjay Chitnis, the dean of the School of Computer Science and Engineering at Bengaluru’s RV University.
BE and BTech considered equal
According to Rangan Banerjee, a BTech degree’s seemingly higher value is just a “perception”. He said, “I think it would be about the place from where they go to and what (talents) they have. The substance should matter more.”
He said IITs, including IIT-Delhi, invite applications from students with BE or BTech for master’s programmes as both degrees are considered equal. However, there could be differences depending on individual institutions, he added.
The BITS Pilani official said, “Students who graduate from BITS Pilani will not have to face any difficulty in job prospects or higher studies as the course is the same. It is mainly about the institution and the talent shown by candidates.”
Chitnis emphasised that companies do not differentiate between the two degrees. “They will take the candidate based on their test, not on the basis of the name of the degree.”
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