Summary: IITs admit on the JEE Advanced rank. NITs, IIITs and GFTIs admit on the JEE Main rank. All of them fill seats through JoSAA, and NITs keep a large share of seats for students from their own state. Past opening and closing ranks are on josaa.nic.in; use them only as a rough guide.The four groups at a glance
| IITs | NITs | IIITs | GFTIs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Indian Institutes of Technology | National Institutes of Technology | Indian Institutes of Information Technology | Other Government Funded Technical Institutes |
| Admission rank | JEE Advanced | JEE Main | JEE Main | JEE Main |
| Governed by | An Act of Parliament for the IITs | An Act of Parliament for the NITs | Some fully funded by the central government; others set up in public-private partnership | A mixed group, funded fully or partly by the central or state governments |
| State quota | None | Home State and Other State quotas at most NITs | Mostly All India | Varies by institute |
| Seats filled through | JoSAA | JoSAA, then CSAB special rounds | JoSAA, then CSAB special rounds | JoSAA, then CSAB special rounds |
In the 2026 JoSAA process there were 23 IITs and 31 NITs, along with IIEST Shibpur, a couple of dozen IIITs and a larger group of GFTIs. The exact list for each year is in Annexure 1 of the JoSAA business rules.
IITs
To be considered for an IIT, a student must first be among the candidates who qualify to write JEE Advanced from JEE Main (for 2026, the top 2,50,000 across all categories in the B.E./B.Tech. paper), then qualify JEE Advanced and receive a rank. The JEE Advanced rank alone decides IIT allotment. The JEE Main percentile plays no part once you are through to Advanced.
IITs have no home state quota. Every IIT seat is open to candidates from every state, with category reservations and female supernumerary seats as set out in the business rules. The older IITs are large, research-heavy institutes; the newer ones are smaller and still growing.
NITs
NITs are spread across the country, with one in most states. They admit on the JEE Main rank, and the feature that matters most for families is the state quota. At most NITs, seats are split between the Home State (HS) quota, for students whose state of eligibility is the NIT's own state, and the Other State (OS) quota for everyone else. Closing ranks under the two quotas can be very different for the same programme.
The state of eligibility is the state from which the student first appeared for Class 12, not their birthplace or where they live. A few NITs have special arrangements. For Maharashtra students, the home NIT is VNIT Nagpur, and our post on the NIT home state quota for Maharashtra students covers this in detail.
IIITs
IIITs began with a focus on information technology and related branches, and most still concentrate on computer science, electronics and allied programmes. Some were set up and funded wholly by the central government. Others were set up in public-private partnership, with the central government, a state government and industry partners.
One point often confuses families: not every institute with "IIIT" in its name is part of JoSAA. Some, such as IIIT Hyderabad and IIIT Delhi, run their own admission processes. Check whether an institute appears in the JoSAA list before assuming it does.
GFTIs
This is the most varied group. It includes institutes funded fully or partly by the central or state governments, such as some central and state universities' engineering departments, and the Schools of Planning and Architecture for architecture and planning programmes. Some GFTIs have a home state quota and some do not. The seat matrix on the JoSAA portal shows the quota for each programme at each institute.
How the seats are filled
All four groups use the same JoSAA process. The student fills a single choice list, and in each round is allotted at most one seat: the highest choice their rank allows, given their category and quota. IIT seats are matched against the JEE Advanced rank and NIT+ seats against the JEE Main rank, but the list is one list.
After the JoSAA rounds end, the IIT process is complete. The JoSAA 2025 FAQs state that there is no spot round at any IIT after the final round. Vacant seats in NITs, IIITs and GFTIs are then offered through separate CSAB special rounds, run on csab.nic.in.
For the step-by-step process and the freeze, float and slide options, read our JoSAA guide for parents.
Eligibility beyond the rank
For every group, the Class 12 performance rule applies in addition to the JEE rank. In recent years this has been at least 75% aggregate in Class 12 (65% for SC, ST and PwD candidates), or a place in the top 20 percentile of the board. A good rank with Class 12 marks below this does not lead to a seat. Our guide on balancing boards with JEE explains how to protect those marks.
Institute or branch: a decision table
The hardest choice at JoSAA is often between a better-known institute with a branch the student is less keen on, and a preferred branch at a less-known institute. There is no single right answer, but these questions help a family decide.
| Question | If yes, lean towards |
|---|---|
| Does the student have a strong, informed interest in a particular branch? | The branch |
| Is the student unsure what they want to study? | The institute, where the peer group and options are wider |
| Does the institute allow branch change or minors, and has the student read those rules? | The institute, with caution, since branch change is usually limited |
| Is the student aiming for higher studies or research? | The institute with the stronger research environment in the student's field |
| Does distance from home or the city matter to the family? | Weigh it carefully; a student who is unhappy in the first year struggles to do well |
Speak to current students of both options if you can. Their view of daily life, teaching and opportunities is often more useful than rankings.
Common questions
Can I get into an NIT through JEE Advanced?
No. NIT, IIIT and GFTI seats are allotted on the JEE Main rank. A student who writes JEE Advanced can include both IIT and NIT+ programmes in one JoSAA list, but each is matched against its own rank.
Do IITs have a home state quota?
No. IIT seats are allotted on an all-India basis, with category reservations and female supernumerary seats.
Where can I see last year's closing ranks?
JoSAA publishes opening and closing ranks for every round of past years on josaa.nic.in. They change every year, so treat them as a rough guide.