Students from across the country are thronging educational institutions in Coimbatore for admissions in various professional disciplines Irrespective of the stream, there is an increasing trend of people prefering Coimbatore over other cities.

For years students from neighbouring states like Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh are traveling down to Coimbatore for further education. There are also students from northern cities like Jaipur and Delhi who have come down to study here. The presence of wide variety of courses and many reputed universities are seen as an advantage.

Anju M Nair, who hails from Jaipur graduated from a reputed University here in 2014 and now she is back looking for an institution for her sister to study fashion technology.” The main reason which led me chose Coimbatore over other cities was climate and also the course I wanted to do, mass communication wasn’t available at many places. Institutions here provide a variety of courses. Even my parents were assured of this place” , she said. She also felt that Coimbatore as a city is friendly and safe. It was her personal experience that convinced her sister too to come down to Coimbatore.

The ‘Manchester of South India’ title gives Coimbatore an edge. Being a tier II city and also a city which is being portrayed as the next investment destination, parents believe that there will be job security. Another positive is the positioning of the city. Parents from neighbouring districts like Nilgiris, Tirupur and neighbouring state Kerala feel that, studying in Coimbatore, the students can visit their homes during weekends. Many institutions even arrange daily transportation to Palakkad, Kerala.

The preference of courses have also changed. If it was engineering until recently, the Trump effect and uncertainty in IT industry has made parents choose arts, commerce and science subjects over engineering courses.

Dr. V Ravikumar , Vice-Principal of CMS college of Science and Commerce feels that the job market is a major factor influencing students choice of courses. In his institution alone, all seats for Commerce courses got filled within three days after class twelve board exam results were out.

“Coimbatore has always been preferred destination for outsiders. Earlier, senior citizens preferred Coimbatore to settle down. Now it is the preferred knowledge destination because of the presence of many established and reputed institutions.”

He also said that the alumni play a major role. Experiences of previous graduates often influence student’s decisions.

V Chandrakumar, an Industrialist said, “Compared to other tier II cities, Coimbatore has better infrastructure and facilities.” He felt that Coimbatore is akin to a metro and also the presence of many companies across sectors like textile, machinery and IT is another advantage of this city because that would help students gain more professional experience.