Till two decades ago, Manipal was just like any other one-horse town in north Karnataka. That changed when a small-time local medical college, the Kasturba Medical College, decided to get into the growth mode. The college added an engineering institute, the Manipal Engineering College, in 1957. After this came colleges for allied health sciences, a graduate school of hotel administration and the Manipal College of Dental Sciences.

In 1993, the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) — now known as Manipal University — was awarded the status of a deemed university and the small south India town became synonymous with higher education. The university currently has 13 professional colleges offering over 160 courses in 12 streams — including architecture, biotechnology, dentistry, engineering, hotel management, medicine and media and communication.

Cool campus

Each college comes with its own campus and necessary infrastructure facilities, says Rakesh Bhaskar, a spokesperson for the University. The Manipal Institute of Technology was the first self-financed engineering college started in India in 1957. “The institute has a campus extending over 160 acres,” says Bhaskar.

At times, private firms have been called on board to add professional authenticity to the institutes. In 1986, the Graduate School of Hotel Administration was set up as a unit of the Dr T.M.A. Pai Foundation. “The next year, the foundation joined hands with Welcomgroup, the hotels division of ITC Ltd,” says Bhaskar.

The university has kept itself in tune with the times. As management became the new professional mantra, the Manipal Institute of Management was established in 1999. Similarly, after the media industry expanded, the Manipal Institute of Communication was established in 1997.

New courses are added to the curriculum regularly. “Starting this academic year, Manipal University has introduced certificate programmes in animation technology, regenerative medicine and in applied sciences,” claims Bhaskar.

Admission to most graduate and postgraduate programmes at Manipal University is based on the results of an all-India online entrance test conducted in 18 cities across the country.

Manipal has turned into a student-dominated town. The university has a student intake of 4,500 per year. “Currently, there are 11,000 students studying in the university,” says Bhaskar. He adds that the university has a high number of foreign students as well. “We have students from over 51 countries at the university.”

Fun and Frolic

Though the student strength has soared, “the university provides quality infrastructure to students,” Bhaskar claims. He says that Manipal University — which has a fully wi-fi campus — houses the largest library offered by any educational institution in Asia. “The university also has an innovation centre which serves as an interface between companies and students. Students get opportunities to handle live projects of corporate firms,” says Bhaskar.

It’s not all work and no play at Manipal. “The university encourages a range of extra-curricular activities — from sports to cultural programmes,” says Bhaskar. The university has an indoor stadium and playfields for cricket, football, basketball, tennis, hockey and volleyball.

Bhaskar claims that several top Indian firms come to the Manipal campus during the placement season. “We have had firms like ABB Limited, Hewlett Packard, ICICI and Infosys Technologies coming for campus recruitment,” he says.

Varuna Verma

Vital Statistics

WHAT IS IT? A deemed university with 12 professional colleges.
WHO’S THE BOSS? Ramdas M. Pai is the Chancellor.
How about JObs? The institute claims to have high placement.
WHere to stay? There are hostel facilities for boys and girls.
WHAT was ITs original name? Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
WHere is it? Manipal University, Manipal–576104, Karnataka.
Phone: 0820 – 2571978. Website: www.manipal.edu

OLD MEMORIES

Nilashish Basu, Adwords representative, Google India, recalls his college days

Since everybody studying at Manipal University is living away from home, campus becomes one big, happy family for the students.

Professors take personal care and there is a healthy camaraderie among fellow students. Living away from home also builds confidence in the students. It helped me learn to interact freely with both my faculty and peers.

Manipal University’s assets are its faculty and infrastructure. The Manipal Institute of Communication, where I studied, offers students the latest cameras and other industry-relevant tools. The faculty also updates itself with what is happening in the industry. They encourage and initiate lots of group discussions with students.

As told to Varuna Verma