Education in Bihar - Higher Education

Higher Education

Patna has emerged as one of the major center of learning in India. Schools in Patna are either run by the state government or run by private trusts, organisations, missionaries. Government schools are affiliated with the Bihar School Examination Board and most private schools are affiliated with the ICSE, CBSE or NIOS boards. Some of the prominent old schools Patna like St Joseph's Convent High School, St Michael's Higher Secondary School, St. Xavier's High School, were established by missionaries during the British Raj .

Patna imparts education in fields like technology, medicine, management, law and fashion. Institutions of national repute have opened up in Patna increasing the opportunities in higher education in the state capital. Colleges such as Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Birla Institute of Technology, Patna and National Institute of Technology, Patna are the prominent engineering colleges in Patna. Other colleges include the newly opened National Institute of Fashion Technology Patna and medical schools such as Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna Medical College and Hospital and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital. Anugrah Narayan College and B N College are among the best known colleges for commerce and humanities besides for a range of PG courses.

After coming to power, the Nitish Kumar led government opened the Chanakya National Law University, a national law university and a B-school called Chandragupt Institute of Management. Both these institutes have attracted students from not just within Bihar but also students from far flung states. A N Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute, Bihar Research Institute are the research institutes in Patna. The Patna University, the first university in Bihar, was established in 1917, and is the 7th oldest university of the Indian subcontinent. Patna also houses one of India's world-renowned libraries, the Khuda Baksh Oriental Library and the Sinha Library, which is one of the largest in the region.

As on date, there are six engineering colleges for boys and one for girls in public sector and nine others in the private sector in Bihar. The overall annual intake of these technical institutes offering engineering education to students in Bihar is merely 4,559. As it is, the seventh engineering college of the state government would start its first session this from July 2012 at Chhapra, while the process to create infrastructure for three new engineering colleges—one each at Madhepura, Begusarai and Sitamarhi—has started.