JSS Mahavidyapeetha To Set Up Off-Campus Higher Education Hub in Tirupati

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has secured another major educational investment with the signing of a pact to establish a campus of the prestigious JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (JSS AHER) in Tirupati.

The agreement, in the form of an MoU, was formalised in the presence of Education Minister Nara Lokesh between the state council of higher education and JSS Mahavidyapeetha. Higher education commissioner NB Gupta and technical education director at JSS Mahavidyapeetha and pro-chancellor of JSS AHER, B Suresh, exchanged the documents.

Under the agreement, JSS AHER would establish an off-campus centre in Tirupati.

Headquartered in Mysuru, JSS AHER is a NAAC A++ accredited deemed university. In the NIRF 2025 rankings, it secured the 21st position among universities and 38th place in the overall category. The institution serves as the flagship educational arm of JSS Mahavidyapeetha, which has a legacy spanning more than 70 years and operates over 300 educational institutions in India and abroad.

The proposed Tirupati campus will feature five integrated schools covering advanced engineering and technologies; life sciences, biotechnology and behavioural sciences; healthcare and allied sciences; management, entrepreneurship and tourism; and law, humanities, policy and governance.

A total of 74 academic programmes will be offered. Once fully operational, the campus is expected to cater to more than 10,000 students. The institution also plans to establish six centres of excellence in emerging and high-impact fields, including Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, semiconductor applications, health policy and governance, public administration, translational biotechnology, healthcare entrepreneurship and aerospace medicine.

To strengthen industry-academia collaboration, linkage centres would be set up in Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Bengaluru.

The state government would facilitate land allotment and provide necessary statutory clearances through a single-window mechanism. JSS Mahavidyapeetha would bear the entire cost of campus development and obtain required UGC approvals.

A joint steering committee will be constituted within 60 days to oversee project implementation. Aligned with the state's Swarna Andhra Vision, the project could generate more than 20,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities.

It is also expected to provide high-quality educational and research opportunities within the state, reducing the need for talented students and researchers to migrate elsewhere.

Senior officials from JSS AHER, including registrar B Manjunath and dean (research) Prashant M Vishwanath, attended the event along with representatives from advisory and consultancy organisations.