Fee Concessions offered to SC / ST students at IIST Trivandrum

IIST Trivandrum comes under the DOS- Department of Space. The Institute is good in terms of space tech but lacks in terms of external outreach and industry connection. In terms of courses, there are mainly 3 UG programs Aerospace, ECE (Avionics), and Computer Science (started in 2025). The Institute is very good if you want your career to be only focused towards space technology. Exploring different fields other than space tech would be difficult in here. Overall, the Institute is best if you want to pursue Aerospace. Computer Science has been started this year and it does not have a separate department as of now and is currently working under Mathematics department. Other than this, there is an Engineering Physics Branch, is a dual degree program which focuses more on the research side.

I chose ECE branch because of my interest towards Electronics. There would be a lot of assignments and projects you need to complete in a semester which would pile up at the end of the semester if you do not start working on them from the start itself. You need to qualify JEE Advanced to join this Institute. The Institute has a separate counseling portal for which you need to apply separately. In terms of coursework, you will have 6 theoretical subjects and 2 to 3 or sometimes 4 lab codes in a semester. There is only one mid-term examination in between the semester for internals evaluation. Other than that, there are regular class tests and lab exams going on a regular basis. The academics are completely theory-oriented and you would have to put an extra effort to learn its practical implications.

The fee structure for the UG program is standard. The fee is around Rs. 76,000/- for each semester including tuition, hostel, and lab charges. You need to pay a separate mess fee of Rs. 15,000/- each semester. Other than that, there isn’t any additional fee involved. There are scholarships available for student who come under EWS category and also for students who score a CGPA of 9 and above each semester. There are also fee concessions available for students coming under SC / ST category.

The faculties in different departments have different teaching experience. Talking about the Avionics Department, there are a few good faculty members who would make the subject interesting and easy for us to learn. But most professors are very strict with their subject and want you to do all the assignments and course work exams in proper manner. Most teachers prefer using a PPT but some still use the blackboard. There are some faculties who are supportive and encouraging. The teacher to student ratio at the Institute is 1:9. In regards with the Avionics Department, there wasn't great student and faculty bonding but I have seen the Aerospace Department faculties to be more supportive and bonded with the students.

The Placement Cell has just been started last year. The 90% of alumni network is from ISRO. Students at the Institute still have ISRO as their first option since we have a direct recruitment policy to ISRO through an Interview. Students above 7 CGPA can sit for the interview and if they get it cleared, they could join ISRO. In my batch, there were around 64 students and around 32 students sat for the interview and everyone cleared it. There are a lot of space startups that visit the Institute and hire students on a pay scale of around 10 LPA. Some of the startups that visited are Agnikul Cosmos, Stardour, Skyroot, etc.

The Institute offers double sharing rooms to all the UG students. The hostels are well-cleaned, furnished and comfortable too. There are separate boys and girls hostels available. There aren't a lot of recreational facilities available in the hostel like TV, indoor games and others but you have Wi-Fi connection 24 / 7. The hostel rules are not strict, there is only a restriction to enter the campus before 10 PM and not leaving after that. Talking about mess food, it is something that can be improved in my opinion by working on providing students with a variety of meals.

The campus has 5 separate blocks for Academics, Interdisciplinary, Science, Avionics and Aerospace. Then, there is a separate Library building with 7 floors. Some of the classrooms are air-conditioned. They can accommodate over 70 students at a time. There is very well-facilitated library and its timings are from 9 AM to 7 PM. Mostly all the labs are equipped with necessary instruments and infrastructure. There is an open amphitheater available for students. There is a Basketball court and a Futsal court available inside the campus. There is also a well-developed wooden Badminton court and Squash court inside the campus. There is 24 / 7 medical support and ambulance on-campus. There is a Gym available inside the campus as well. The campus is guarded by CISF officers through check posts and watch towers. The best part about the campus is you could enjoy the view of nature because of the campus being in the rural of Kerala. It is very scenic to view. Since the campus is completely closed and heavily guarded, you are safe and free to explore it.

The campus life at IIST Trivandrum is somewhat average since there is a heavy academic workload and not much of extra-curricular things to do. The Institute has a very limited crowd with a total of around 900 to 1000 students in total. There are many clubs in the campus but all of them are student-driven and doesn't have much of events or activities due to lack of participation. Mostly all the events conducted in the campus are academic focus, only a few are for extracurricular activities like sports meet, music fest and some celebrations like Holi, Diwali, etc. There are two major fests taking place every year at the Institute. ‘Dhanak’ is the cultural fest and ‘Conscientia’ is the technical fest.