Top Arts & Humanities Colleges In India

Humanities has recently started gaining popularity among Indian students and parents. A number of students nowadays prefer it to Science and Commerce, as a result of which getting admission in the top arts colleges is not a cake walk now.

The evident reasons for this gradual shift in student’s preference are- the cut throat competition in Science and Commerce and the increasing awareness about the career prospects associated with Arts. Humanities as a stream is quite extensive and covers not only Politics, Literature, and Philosophy but Geography, History and Law also.

However, if a student is talented and diligent, the name of the college does not make much of a difference, even then every student has this dream of going to the best college.

India Today, India’s leading English Language weekly magazine and News Channel conducts a survey every year to find out the best colleges in the country in different fields including Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine and Law. Based on these surveys, in this particular article, I will talk about the top arts & humanities colleges in India.

 

Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi

[Image Source: Indianexpress]

Located at one of the prime locations of South Delhi, Lady Shri Ram College is among the finest colleges for women in India. The college is situated on a beautiful 15-acre campus and boasts of its excellent infrastructure and placement opportunities.

The college offers various undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Arts, Commerce, and Science. However, it is specifically famous as an Arts college because of the fact, that it consistently maintained its position in the “Top 10 Arts Colleges in India” as per the annual surveys by India Today from 2001 to 2015. It has been in the top three in 12 out of the said 15 years.

Besides, LSR is also renowned for its professional courses such as B.El.Ed. and B.A. (Hons.) Journalism.

Admission Process:

• To secure admission in LSR, the students need to fill in the University of Delhi admission form either online or offline at the designated colleges. No student shall be considered for admission if s/he has not filled in the form.
• LSR displays cut-off lists on the dates announced by the University. If the candidate’s marks fall within the cut-offs announced, and all other eligibility criteria are met, the applicant would be eligible for admission.

 

Stephen’s College, Delhi

[Image Source: Indianexpress]

Established by Cambridge Mission to Delhi, St. Stephens College is among the oldest colleges of Delhi University. This co-educational institution for higher education is among the best colleges for Arts and Science throughout the country.

The college offers numerous courses in Arts and Science streams from Philosophy to Chemistry and History to Physics. It also has an International Languages School that offers Certificate Courses in Foreign Languages.

St. Stephen’s College has one of the most famous and oldest libraries in Delhi.

The main reason it is mentioned here is, it was among the top 3 colleges for Arts in India from 2007 to 2015 according to the annual surveys conducted by India Today.

Admission Process:

• Unlike the other colleges of Delhi University, St. Stephen’s does not follow the central admission process of the University.
• To secure admission in St. Stephen’s, the candidates need to apply online and mention their interests and academic achievements therein.
• After that, the college will release a list of students selected for interview and the entrance test.
• The entrance test criterion or interview process is different for every department.
• Please note that 50% of the seats in the college are reserved for Christian minority candidates apart from the usual reservation for SC/ST/OBC or other such categories as per the Government of India Norms.

 

Loyola College, Chennai

Loyola College is located in the urban locality of Nungambakkam, in the city of Chennai. It is situated in a sprawling 99 acre campus with tree-lined pathways and excellent infrastructure facilities like separate fields for each sport and a state of the art library.

Loyola College has constantly been ranked among the top 3 colleges for Arts, Commerce and Science in India by India Today from 2006 to 2015. It has also been awarded “the Best Men’s College in the City on the Employability skills” by PR Syndicate.

Loyola has been certified as a “College of Excellence” in 2014 by UGC and accredited ‘A’ Grade by NAAC.

Admission Process:

• The admission forms for Loyola College can be obtained from selected Indian Overseas Banks, by post on sending a demand draft with a requisition letter or can be downloaded online.
• The students provisionally selected for admission will be communicated by the College and will have to present themselves with the Principal on the date mentioned in the call letter.
• If the candidates are further selected for admission they will be communicated through post/sms.

 

Christ University, Bangalore

Initially started as Bangalore University’s constituent college, Christ University has now flourished to provide over 45 undergraduate, 44 Masters, 16 M.Phil. and 17 Ph.D. programmes. With over 16000 students and 1000 faculty members Christ is now one of the top notch universities in the country.

The University offers courses in the fields of Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, Management and Commerce, Law, Education and Engineering.

Christ University has three main campuses at Hosour Road extension, Kengeri and Bannerghatta. The Hosour Road campus is the main campus spread over 25 acres.

As per India Today’s ranking for 2015, Christ was at number 4 out of the best ten Arts colleges in India. It has been among the top 10 institutions on the list for the last 9 years.

The University Campus has been awarded the best “Institutional Buildings and Garden” award by the Bangalore Urban Arts Commission for three years from 2000 to 2002 consecutively.

Admission Process:

• To secure admission in Christ University candidates can apply online as well as offline by filling in the forms available at the designated centers.

 

Hindu College, Delhi

Among the oldest colleges of India, Hindu College has been a center of intellectual and political debate during India’s freedom struggle.

One of the lesser known facts about the college is, it played an active role in India’s freedom struggle especially in the Quit India Movement and as a result, some of the teachers and students of the college were even imprisoned during the struggle.

The college bagged the “Lifetime Achievement Award” and “Young Achievers’ Award”, Instituted by the Old Student’s Association in 2003.

The College has also been awarded the ‘Star College’ status for the DBT – Department of Biotechnology, by the Ministry of Science and Technology of India.

Among the many highlights of this college, one is its prime location; it is located in Delhi University’s North Campus with all the necessary facilities available in its vicinity.

Admission Process:

• To secure admission in Hindu, the students need to fill in the University of Delhi admission form either online or offline at the designated colleges. No student shall be considered for admission if s/he has not filled in the form.
• Hindu displays cut-off lists according to the dates announced by the University. If the candidate’s marks fall within the cut-offs announced and all other eligibility criteria is met, only then the candidate would be eligible for admission.

 

Miranda House, Delhi

One of the eminent colleges for women’s education in India, Miranda House has been an alma mater of personalities like Sheila Dixit, Nandita Das, Brinda Karat and Mallika Sherawat.

Miranda House is located in the heart of North Campus with a 5 minutes walking distance from metro station.

The college houses a beautiful hostel, which is also among the oldest buildings of Delhi University. The college has elegant British style architecture with a lush green campus.

The college has consistently managed to bag a position in the list of top 10 colleges in the India Today survey since past 6 years.

Admission process:

• Miranda House follows the central admission process of Delhi University.
• To secure admission in Miranda, the students need to fill in the centralized admission form of the University.
• The college releases cut off lists on the dates prescribed by the University.
• The candidates selected for admission on the basis of the cut offs will then need to fill in the Miranda House pre-admission form.

 

Fergusson College, Pune

Fergusson College is located in the city of Pune, the cultural capital of Maharashtra.

The college was named after Sir James Fergusson, the former Governor of Bombay, because of the generous donation made by him to the college. It is now affiliated to the Savitribai Phule Pune University.

The college has had a close connection with politics, with its founders being among the pioneers of INC (Indian National Congress), Hindu Nationalism and the Indian Socialist Movement, it has been an alma mater of various renowned political personalities and has produced two Indian Prime Ministers viz. P.V. Narsimha Rao and Vishwanath Pratap Singh.

Started with a 37 acre campus, the college now boasts of its huge and beautiful 65 acre campus. The college offers various facilities for outdoor and indoor sports and provides an excellent platform for extracurricular activities.

The college has maintained its position in the top 10 for the last 11 years except 2007 and 2012.

Admission Process:

• Admission to Fergusson college starts immediately after the 12^th results of Maharashtra Board has been announced.
• Admission to the Undergraduate courses is strictly on merit basis.
• Candidates are advised to check the College’s website (fergusson.edu) from time to time to get the exact dates.

 

Madras Christian College

[Image Source: TheHindu]

Located in Tambram Chennai, Madras Christian College is one of Asia’s oldest colleges. The college has an exceptionally large 365-acre campus which is known for its frondescence. Besides, the college houses a beautiful lake which is well maintained by a curator.

MCC is affiliated to the University of Madras and offers over 30 undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the fields of Liberal Arts and Science. The college was started as a small school for boys’ education which is now a co-educational institution with more than 5000 students and 220 faculty members from across the country.

MCC was no. 8 on India Today’s list for 2015 and has been in top 10 since past 3 years, i.e., 2012 to 2014.

The college has produced eminent leaders for India like Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, T.T. Krishnamachari and John Mathai.

Admission Process:

• Fergusson has stopped selling offline forms from this academic year. Applicants need to apply online through the college website (mcc.edu.in).
• If candidates face any problem in applying online they can go to the MCC student internet center, at Miller Memorial Library (Monday – Saturday (10 am – 5 pm) where they will be provided with free assistance to fill in the online application.

 

Hansraj College, Delhi

Hansraj College was initially started as a college for men and was later transformed into a co-educational institution in 1978.

The college has a prestigious record of companies like KPMG, Deloitte, Accenture, HCL, The Oberoi etc. visiting its campus for placements every year. The college has a number of societies that provide a platform to its students to enhance their talent.

Students and alumni from Hansraj brag about its eminent, scholarly and devoted faculty.

Hansraj College has bagged the position of no. 9 on the India Today’s list for top Arts colleges after eight years.

Admission Process:

• Hansraj College follows the centralized admission process of Delhi University.
• After declaration of cut off lists on the dates prescribed by the University the eligible applicants need to report to the college and get the college admission form and University enrolment form filled in.
• Afterwards, candidates would need to get their documents verified and pay the admission fees.

 

Ramjas College, Delhi

Located at the prominent location of Delhi University’s North Campus, Ramjas College boasts of its beautiful campus, the scholarly faculty and state of the art library.

The college was established in 1917, which makes it one of the oldest colleges of Delhi University. It is at a 5-7 minutes walking distance from the Kamla Nagar Market, the famous shopping destination for Delhi’s youngsters and 10 minutes walking distance from the metro station.

The college offers 18 undergraduate and 18 postgraduate courses in the fields of Science, Arts, and Commerce. The college is also known for its School of Foreign and Indian Languages that offers Certificate courses in famous foreign languages like French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Italian.

The college has bagged the position of no. 10 in the survey for 2015. This is indeed a remarkable achievement as the college was at no. 26 as per the same survey for 2009.

Admission Process:

• Ramjas College also follows the Delhi University’s guideline for admission to its various undergraduate courses.
• The applicants seeking admission are required to fill in the University’s centralized application form and wait till the college releases the cut-off list.

 

I hope this information helps you secure admission in the best Arts colleges.

However, if, because of the skyrocketing cut off and strict admission norms of these colleges you fail to secure admission in any of these top art colleges, don’t lose hope. Like I said before, if a student is talented and diligent, the name of the college does not make much of a difference.

*Note: The colleges listed in the above article were chosen on the frequency with which they featured in ‘Top Colleges’ lists, national and local, compiled by different organisations. The selected colleges in no way reflect partisanship of any form, by Edunuts or its writers.