What’s the difference between B.E. and B.Tech? | Navigus Blog

Engineering — A course for probably which the majority of the parenting community of our country look forward to getting their children into. This must be the only course in our country which has youngsters preparing right from the age of 11. For getting into engineering, lakhs of applicants prepare themselves for competitive entrances like IIT JEE, BITSAT, and other regional and private exams. The ranks secured in the exams act as a passport for most of the 12th standard students for getting into the top engineering colleges.

Though, while choosing a stream there has always been confusion on the difference between a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree and a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) degree. While both degrees are awarded after completing a four-year undergraduate engineering program in India, the different names of the degrees never fail to make one try to differentiate from the other. Is it just a difference in the nomenclature of the degree or does the academic curriculum differ for both as well? Let’s find out more about this below.

Peeking into the History of Technical Education in India

There is a notion, not so general, that the colleges/institutes that were established during the British Raj award the B.Tech. degrees.

However, the first college established by the British, viz. The Madras Survey School, which later came to be known as College of Engineering, Guindy, which is affiliated to the Anna University and offer BE degrees to its engineering graduates. This might be the only exception to the notion of the pre-independence era colleges offering B.Tech. degrees but it sure does eliminate the possibility of such a rule in the nomenclature of the engineering degrees.

What is BE and B Tech?

In India, the Bachelors in Engineering is a professional undergraduate degree, which is awarded to students after successfully completing four years of their education in the field of study and research. There are some institutes in India which are considered to be very prestigious and have international recognition especially Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Technology (NIT). These institutes provide B.Tech to the students as the B.Tech courses are mainly practical oriented and easy to understand.

The first year of both the branches is considered to be common and has the same subjects of study as well. The subjects are diverted after the first year. English is the only medium used for giving instructions and examinations to the students. Most of the universities in India offer a degree in engineering in streams such as Electronics, Civil, Mechanical among others.

There are three governing bodies namely AICTE, UGC and the Indian Government which are responsible for approving the degrees to the students and deciding on the branches/courses. The universities which are approved by the governing bodies mentioned above are legally allowed to give the degrees to the students. This degree acts as an access for the student in getting a job in either the public/private sector.

The General Notions: Things You’ve Heard People Say about B.E and B.Tech

• B.E. is more of theory-based while B.Tech. is more of application-based.
• B.Tech. is skill-oriented while B.E. is knowledge-oriented.
• Premium or institutes of national importance provide B.Tech. degrees while BE degrees are given out by most of the private colleges affiliated to regional universities.
• Deemed universities or private universities offer B.Tech. degrees.
• The universities that offer many degrees in multiple fields like Arts, Commerce, Sciences as well as Engineering award B.E. degrees while universities that offer only Engineering degrees award B.Tech. degrees.

On Paper difference between B.E. and B.Tech

List of Few Colleges in India offering B.E and B.Tech Courses

Top Public Universities for B.Tech Courses:

1. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
2. National Institute of Technology (NIT)
3. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad
4. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Trivandrum
5. Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur
6. Delhi Technological University, Delhi

Top Private Universities for B.Tech Courses:

1. Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore
2. Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS)
3. Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal
4. VIT University, Vellore
5. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore
6. AMITY University, Noida
7. Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication, Gandhinagar

Top Public Universities for B.E. Courses:

1. Anna University, Chennai
2. Jadavpur University, Kolkata
3. Osmania University, Hyderabad

Top Private Universities for B.E. Courses:

1. Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand
2. RV College Of Engineering, Bangalore
3. Sir M Vishveshwarya Institute of Technology, Bangalore

Other Notable Exceptions/Curious Cases

• Birla Institute of Technology and Science(BITS), Pilani offers Bachelor of Engineering degrees to its engineering undergraduates. However, BITS Pilani is an officially recognized private university since 1964.
• Adhiyamaan College of Engineering, an autonomous institute affiliated to Anna University, Chennai, offers both B.E. and B.Tech. degrees. It offers B.Tech. for Chemical, IT and Bio-Technology engineering while rest of the eight engineering courses offer BE degrees.

AICTE view

The All India Council of Technical Education(AICTE) has the ‘responsibility for uniform development and qualitative growth of the Technical Education system and preparation of syllabi to maintain uniform standards throughout the country’. AICTE’s model curricula for different engineering programmers do not differentiate B.E. curricula from B.Tech. curricula and considers them both as “Undergraduate Programmers of Study in Engineering & Technology”. As a result, both BE and B.Tech. curricula have the same guidelines for practical as well as theoretical subjects.

Concluding Notes

While all the general notions have had at least one exception to them, what remains of the difference in both B.E. and B.Tech. is little and has no significance in the terms of job scope, prospects, and other employment opportunities. Although it could be argued that the B.Tech. degree from IITs or NITs hold more importance over a BE from a private institute but this is true only because IITs and NITs are considered the institutes of national importance and offer excellence and not simply because their degrees are called B.Tech. degrees.

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If you still have any queries regarding the B.E. & B.Tech, drop them in the comments section below. We know how difficult it is for every 12th science pass out to decide which is the best engineering stream for him/her. We, at Navigus, strive to help you in choosing a best-fit career path by gauging your strengths and weaknesses. We make sure you have the right information at your disposal before you go on to make your life-changing career decision.

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Originally published at https://navigus.in on August 5, 2016.