Hey aspirant,

Autonomous colleges are selected institutes which are given the freedom to develop the curriculum based on the latest industry needs. There are two types of autonomous institutes, one which can award their own degrees and the other cannot award their own degrees but have academic independence.

Their speciality is that the curriculum is frequently updated according to the latest industrial trends by the institute's faculty and stakeholders from industries, education boards etc. They also have the freedom to conduct their own exams. In case of non-autonomous institutes, it may take years and has to undergo many levels of approval for updating the syllabus.

Some autonomous institutes like Manipal, Amity, BITS-Pilani, VIT etc. conduct their own entrance exams, while some of them accept JEE Mains, SAT, state entrance exams etc. for engineering and other courses. Admission to autonomous medical colleges is only through NEET.