Information for Prospective Students
The 21 st Century Gurukulams are being established to provide additional opportunities for gifted rural youth. These academies are post graduate residential IT Academies leading to diplomas and degrees in IT.
Unlike other educational programs, the programs at 21CG run for a full twelve months (calendar year rather than academic year). The program is fashioned after the Defense Department Sainik Schools and is extremely intensive. A typical day starts at 5:30AM in the morning and goes until 10:00PM at night, six days a week and includes strenuous exercise and sports programs. Thus, people with health problems and other physical ailments should not apply.
Who is eligible to apply?
The program is open to all graduates of any recognized university who graduated from a high school located in a rural mandal of Andhra Pradesh. All graduates in the age group of 20 to 24 can apply.( Their age should not exceed 24 years on 31st December, 2007).
Will all the students begin the program at the same time?
Because of the self-paced nature of this educational program, the start dates can be different for different students. It is anticipated that one fourth of the students will start every quarter, in July, October, January and April. The entrance examination for July and October start dates will take place in early June of each year and for the January and April start dates, the entrance examination will take place in early December. This staggered admission process is necessary to provide individualized attention to the entering class and to determine the strength and limitation of each student through a gap analysis process. This also facilitates the effective use of faculty, staff and resources.
What are the requirements for selection?
There are several stages to the selection process. The first phase of selection will be based on a state wide entrance examination conducted along the lines of EAMCET. Notification is expected to appear in newspapers and this website, around the middle of September of 2006, about how one can apply and where to take the entrance examination. Students will be rank ordered according to their performance within each mandal. Successful candidates will be announced both based on merit and social criteria. This website will contain detailed information. It will also be published in the usual manner in the newspapers.
Depending on the number of openings each year, students will be notified where and when they should show up for counseling and to start the program. The number of openings is purely a function of availability of residential and academic space. In 2006, the expected state-wide intake is about one person per mandal for a total of about 1,000 students. Once the new Gurukulam campuses are ready in each of the districts in 2007 and 2008, the intake will increase to about 5,000 students per year.
The next phase of the selection process is a preparatory course of three months. Formal admission to the regular program is subject to successful completion of the Preparatory Course. Our past experience shows that this particular program is not for every student. The Preparatory Course permits each student to discover whether they have the necessary aptitude to be successful in the IT field and whether they have the stamina and endurance to successfully undertake the long and arduous academic program. Our past experience indicates that 10% to 15% of the students leave the program before the completion of the Preparatory Course. Upon successful completion, the student is formally admitted to the pre-MSIT Program.
How long will it take?
The pre-MSIT Program is a variable duration program and is expected to take about one year (including the three months for the Preparatory Course) for students with the necessary background. However, since admission to 21CG is broadly based and anyone can join, different students will have different gaps in their education and may require more or less time than the estimated one year duration. Because the educational program uses Intelligent Tutoring Systems and personalized mentors, each student is able to progress at his/her own pace and is not required to be in lock step with every other student. Successful completion of the pre-MSIT Program is defined by passing and being accepted into the regular MSIT Program. Once accepted, the Master's Degree is expected to take an additional two years.
What degree will the students get?
At the end of the successful completion of the pre-MSIT Program, the students will be eligible to receive a Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology (PGDIT). At this point, students would have sufficient grounding in IT and have acceptable levels of communication skills in English, presentation skills and other soft skills that they should be able to take up gainful employment in any of the IT Enabled Services Industries. They will also be able to take National Competitive examinations such as the UPSC and IIM entrance exam.
Those students who show exceptional ability and aptitude in Programming and IT skills may choose to continue towards a Master's Degree Program in IT. Students with BTech degrees will be eligible to receive an MTech in IT and all others will be able to receive an MS in IT. This program is expected to take an additional two years beyond pre-MSIT.
What will it cost?
We are assuming that almost all of the students from the rural communities will not be able to afford the costs given below and have made arrangements with banks to provide them necessary loans. Please see the next section about options for loan payback.
The cost for the three month Preparatory Course, including the hostel charges, will be set at a reduced rate of Rs. 20,000. Students who continue on to the regular pre-MSIT Program will be given credit of this amount towards their full tuition. Students who do not successfully complete the three month Preparatory Course will only be responsible to pay back the Rs. 20,000 to the bank. It is anticipated that the Certificate of Attendance provided at the end of the Preparatory Course will enable them to find gainful employment in the BPO industry. However, no guarantees are provided by the Gurukulam for the unsuccessful candidates.
The annual tuition fee is Rs. 90,000 per year. In addition, there will be a hostel fee of Rs. 30,000 per year to cover boarding and lodging. After the successful completion of the Preparatory Course, each student will be provided with a lap top and there is a one-time computing charge of Rs. 30,000 to cover part of the cost of the laptop and the maintenance support. This laptop is deemed to be owned by the student and he or she will be free to take it with them at the end of the educational program. Thus, the first year total cost will be Rs. 150,000. The cost for the second and third years, including hostel charges, is Rs. 120,000. Additional personal expenses such as pocket money, will be available up to Rs. 10,000 per year upon application to the House Master. Thus, the total cost for the entire three year program is expected to be approximately Rs. 420,000.
What if the student cannot afford to pay the tuition?
A unique aspect of this particular educational program is a job guarantee with loan payback provisions. If a student does not get a job offer of at least Rs. 120,000 per year after PGDIT or Rs. 240,000 per year after MSIT, the graduates will be offered a teaching/programming position at one of the Gurukulams.
The PGDIT graduates will be offered a three-year position as an Assistant Mentor/Assistant Programmer at a salary of Rs. 50,000 per year and their loan will be paid back at a rate of Rs. 70,000 per year until the entire loan is fully paid. The total annual cost to the Gurukulam will be Rs. 120,000. Thus, approximately three years after graduation, they will be free of the debt incurred in conjunction with this program and can proceed with other opportunities in life.
The MTech and MS graduates will be offered a four year position as an Associate Mentor/Associate Programmer at a salary of Rs. 100,000 per year and the loan will be paid back at a rate of Rs. 140,000 per year until the entire loan is fully paid. The total annual cost of the Gurukulam will be Rs. 240,000. Thus, approximately four years after graduation, they will be free of the debt incurred in conjunction with this program.
What scholarships are available?
Currently we are not providing any scholarships to the students apart from the loans. However, the students may be eligible for and can still apply for the government scholarships and the necessary information and support would be provided.
What is the annual program schedule?
Unlike the usual 9 month programs in the universities, this program is of 12 month duration for each of the 3 years. It is based on (Stanford like) 12 weeks Quarter System. There are no long vacation periods or holidays, except for 1 week at Dasara, 1 week during Pongal, and 1 week in the summer. An additional week of individual holidays is given during important National Holidays. (Click here for the Annual Calendar for the next 3 years). {Individual Holidays: Republic Day, Holi, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanthi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali}
The Academic Quarters begin in July, October, January and April. Because of staggered admission strategy, new students will be entering the Gurukulam every Quarter. Usually the first quarter is the preparatory course is for three months, which is a pre-requisite for formal admission to the program. This is followed by the pre-MSIT program which is a 12 month intensive program, including the Preparatory course.
What is the curriculum and how does grading work in Learning by Doing?
The curriculum that would be followed in the second and third years is same as the MSIT curriculum (click here to see MSIT curriculum). All the students are expected to get an 'A' grade in all the courses. If in any case, the student fails to get an 'A' grade, he/she is supposed to take another attempt to get an 'A'. Although, the number of attempts is restricted, the students will have to do the same course until they get an 'A' in that course. The same policy applies to the practicum also. The students will be able to get the degree/diploma only if they have cleared all the courses including the practicum.
What are the reservations in the admissions?
All the reservation policies of the state government would be applied for the program.
Is there any placement assistance available?
The gurukulams would provide placement assistance in getting the companies for hiring students on campus. It's up to the student to perform well in the placements and get placed in a company. CIHL or any organization does not guarantee a placement for a student in a private software corporation. If the students are not placed in any of the visiting companies, they would be given a job in the Gurukulams itself. However, you have a choice to leave the Gurukulam and search a job yourself, but you would have to pay back the loan and leave.
If the student gets a job, how should he/she pay back the loan?
At the end of 3 years, the student would owe the banks about Rs. 420,000 plus interest specified by the bank. It is anticipated that each student would set aside 30% to 50% of the annual income (at least Rs. 120,000 every year) to quickly payoff the loan.
