More than 90% of seats remain vacant in 167 engineering colleges across Tamil Nadu after the second round of the TNEA 2026 admissions counselling. Data shows 23 colleges have not admitted a single student. This year's admissions have seen a significant drop, with over 100,000 seats unfilled.
Engineering Admissions Decline
The TNEA 2026 counselling process for engineering admissions has concluded its second round. Analysis reveals a stark contrast between allocated seats and actual student admissions. A total of 167 engineering colleges report over 90% vacancy. Furthermore, 23 institutions have failed to enroll any students.
Reports indicate that over 100,000 engineering seats are still vacant statewide. Only 41% of the total available seats have been filled to date. This figure represents a decrease from previous years.
Student Participation and Trends
In the second counselling round, 93,116 students were invited to confirm their admissions. However, 43,132 students did not report for the process. This non-reporting rate contributes to the high vacancy figures.
Popular streams like Computer Science and Engineering saw 17,124 admissions. Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) followed with 12,000 admissions. Information Technology (IT) secured 6,282 admissions.
The number of seats filled this year has decreased by 5,236 compared to TNEA 2025 . The number of colleges filling over 50% of their seats has also dropped to 111, down from 147 last year.
Reasons for Vacancies
Experts attribute the decline in admissions to several factors. Students are reportedly securing seats through management quotas. Deemed universities also finalize admissions before the TNEA counselling begins. This pre-emptive admission process leaves fewer students seeking seats through the state counselling system.
The admission cut-off has consequently dropped to 150 this year. This lower cut-off reflects the reduced competition for available seats in many institutions.
