CHENNAI: Engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu are staring at a growing seat vacancy, with only 41.15% of seats filled after the second round of Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) 2026 counselling. The figure is nearly five percentage points lower than the 46.34% recorded at the same stage last year. Only one more round of counselling remains.
Of the 1,81,436 seats available under general counselling, 74,658 have been filled so far, compared to 79,894 at the corresponding stage last year. Career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi estimated that around 45,000 seats could remain vacant even after the final round.
More than 93,000 students took part in the second round, including those from the first round who opted for fresh choice filling. Of the 49,984 students allotted seats in the second round, 614 had participated in the first round. The corresponding figure was 994 last year, according to TNEA data.
Notably, 25 students with cut-off scores above 190 who had participated in the first round also secured allotments in the second round. “This reflects that even high-scoring students are facing problems in filling appropriate choices online,” said Gandhi.
The data also shows a widening disparity between colleges. Of the 422 institutions participating in counselling, 23 have received no admissions so far, against 22 last year. As many as 167 colleges have filled less than 10% of their seats. Only 44 colleges have filled more than 90% of their seats, down from 56 last year, while 65 have crossed the 80% mark compared with 82 last year.
With 1,06,778 seats left for the final round and more than 1.02 lakh students expected to compete, Gandhi estimated that around 45,000 seats could remain vacant after counselling.
Data Visualisation and Data Science, Environmental Engineering, Generative AI and Machine Learning, Industrial Engineering and Management, Marine Engineering and Textile Chemistry have not received a single allotment after two rounds.