Engineering students in Tamil Nadu are just six extra courses, or 18 credits, away from earning BE and BTech degrees with honours in four years. Or if they would like to earn minor degrees in any other branches, they can do so by getting 18 credits. This was the decision arrived at during a recent academic council meeting of Anna University.

"If students get high grades till the fourth semester in BE, BTech programmes, they will be allowed to select specialised courses in ME or MTech degree programmes. If they clear six specialised courses in a related field or get 18 extra credits, they will be awarded an honours degree," informed the Vice-Chancellor of Anna University R Velraj in a Times of India report. 

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At the same time, if a student of Mechanical Engineering or Civil Engineering completes six courses in Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML), the said student will earn a BE Mechanical Engineering degree with a minor in AI or ML, the VC reportedly informed. The university has been pondering over the implementation of the same for second-year students as well after making the required changes in the regulations. As per the 2021 regulations of Anna University, a minimum of 160 credits need to be secured by a student to earn a BE or BTech degree.