VELS Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS) Chennai

For 2025-26, the session the engineering fee page showed in January 2026, VISTAS lists tuition a semester of Rs 73,500 for B.Tech Computer Science and Engineering and its AI, AI and ML and AI and Data Science versions (Rs 1,47,000 a year), Rs 46,000 for ECE, Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering, Rs 32,000 for EEE, Mechanical and Electronics and Computer Engineering, Rs 75,000 for IT with IBM and Rs 1,49,000 for Robotics and AI. Other fees of Rs 19,500 to Rs 44,500 a semester are charged on top.

For 2026-27 tuition a semester is Rs 31,500 for BCA (shift 1), Rs 24,975 for BBA and B.Com, Rs 56,250 for B.A. LL.B. (Hons), Rs 67,500 for MBA Shipping and Logistics Management, Rs 46,125 for B.Pharm and Rs 29,750 for BPT. Multiply by two for a year. Other fees of similar size are charged separately; for MBA Finance, HR and Marketing the 2025-26 tuition was Rs 76,000 a semester.

VISTAS has not published V-SAT 2027 dates (checked 16 October 2026); the V-SAT form on its admission portal lists no slot dates and the application form is headed Registrations 2026-27. V-SAT 2026 Phase 2 was an online test from 24 to 29 April 2026, 9 am to 5 pm, lasting 45 minutes with logical reasoning, quantitative and verbal sections.

For more than 60 undergraduate courses VISTAS names its own V-SAT (Vels Scholarship Admission Test), with merit on Class 12 marks. Its eligibility pages name the Vels Entrance Examination for B.Tech, M.Tech (with GATE or TANCET), law, M.Pharm, Pharm.D and MCA, CAT, MAT, TANCET, XAT or the Vels Entrance Test for MBA, IMUCET for Nautical Science and Marine Engineering, and NEET UG for BPT.

Top-ranking students get a 100% tuition scholarship, and other students get 75%, 50%, 25% or 10% by rank, for the whole programme (scholarship page, 2026-27). It applies to undergraduate programmes other than marine programmes, not to postgraduate, lateral entry or diploma students. Class 12 aggregate above 90% earns 100% of tuition for 50 CBSE and 100 State board seats.

VISTAS is a deemed-to-be university under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956, notified on 4 June 2008 and extended by the Ministry of Education in November 2023. It is run by the Vaels Educational Trust, set up in 1992, and its 2026 admission material calls it a UGC Category 1 institution.

NAAC grade A++ with a CGPA of 3.52 on a four-point scale, valid up to 29 October 2029. In NIRF 2025 VISTAS is ranked 61 in Pharmacy and placed in the 101-150 band in the University category and the 151-200 band in Engineering and Overall. NIRF 2026 results were not on nirfindia.org on 16 October 2026.

In its NIRF 2026 data for the 2024-25 graduating batch VISTAS reports 912 graduates of four-year UG programmes with 676 placed and a median salary of Rs 4,17,000, 1,709 graduates of three-year UG programmes with 1,274 placed (Rs 4,15,000) and 1,064 graduates of two-year PG programmes with 796 placed (Rs 4,95,000). Its placement page quotes a highest package of 33 LPA and an average of 4.5 LPA with no batch year.

VISTAS does not publish a hostel fee on its hostel page or fee pages. It lists five hostels (UG men, UG women, PG men, PG women and international students) with rooms for two to four occupants, AC rooms in some blocks and a mess, and total occupancy of 1,108 students. The sports scholarship includes free hostel accommodation.

The main campus is at Velan Nagar, P.V. Vaithiyalingam Road, Pallavaram, Chennai 600117, on 80 acres. The 2026-27 admission form lists VISTAS campuses at Pallavaram, Thalambur (maritime studies and physiotherapy), Periyapalayam (allied health, nursing, pharmacy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy) and Thiruvanmiyur (aviation, computing, commerce and management).

Undergraduate admission at VISTAS is on Class 12 marks, with the university's online V-SAT (Vels Scholarship Admission Test) deciding scholarships of 10% to 100% of tuition. Engineering, law, MCA and some pharmacy programmes also name the Vels Entrance Examination, and MBA names CAT, MAT, TANCET, XAT or that test. The 2026-27 application form was open on 16 October 2026; V-SAT 2027 dates are not published.

VELS Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS) Chennai offers 130 programmes in Engineering, Management, Science, Commerce, Arts & Humanities, Law, Education, Agriculture, Pharmacy, Hospitality, Computer Applications and Paramedical, including Bachelor of Technology, Master of Technology, Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration.

VELS Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS) Chennai lists approval or accreditation from UGC, AICTE, NAAC, NBA, PCI, BCI, NCTE and DGS.

673 students were enrolled across its programmes in 2023–24, 39.7% of them women (NIRF 2025 data).

VELS Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS) Chennai is also known as Vels University, VISTAS and Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies.