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Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed to be University) campus, J-15, Khandagiri Marg, Dharam Vihar, Jagamara, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751030
🏆 NIRF #25(overall)NAAC GRADE A++ (3rd accreditation cycle)
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Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed to be University): Admission 2026, Cutoff, Courses, Fees, Placements, Ranking

J-15, Khandagiri Marg, Dharam Vihar, Jagamara, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 7510303.9/5
Ownership: Private (Deemed to be University)University Grants Commission (UGC)UGC, AICTE, MCI/NMC (Medical), DCI/DCI (Dental), PCI (Pharmacy), BCI (Law), NAAC (A++)
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SOA University

News & Updates

SOA records strong NIRF 2025 rankings in Dental (#9) and Law (#10).

Editorial Team·NIRF 2025 cycle
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SOA records strong NIRF 2025 rankings in Dental (#9) and Law (#10).

SOA holds NAAC A++ accreditation in its third cycle.

Editorial Team·Third NAAC cycle
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SOA holds NAAC A++ accreditation in its third cycle.

SOA reports 100% MBBS placement for the 2023 batch, per NIRF-linked data.

Editorial Team·2023 MBBS batch (via NIRF-linked data)
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SOA reports 100% MBBS placement for the 2023 batch, per NIRF-linked data.
SOA University

Location & Map

J-15, Khandagiri Marg, Dharam Vihar, Jagamara, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751030
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Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), commonly known as SOA University, is a private deemed university headquartered in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. It began in 1996 as the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), an engineering college, and was granted deemed-to-be-university status by the UGC in 2007. SOA is now a large, multi-institute university spanning engineering, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law, business, agricultural sciences, hotel management and nursing, through nine constituent institutes.

Establishment & Founding

SOA originated in 1996 as the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), offering engineering programmes. The University Grants Commission conferred Deemed-to-be-University status under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, in 2007, after which the institution expanded into a multi-disciplinary university bringing together several previously separate professional colleges under one umbrella.

Location

SOA's main campus is at J-15, Khandagiri Marg, Dharam Vihar, Jagamara, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751030.
  • •The main campus is reported at 127 acres by most sources; one source separately cites a larger 452-acre figure described as the university's 'total' area across all its campuses and institutes — these figures are not directly comparable and should be confirmed with the university.
  • •SOA's constituent institutes are spread across multiple locations in and around Bhubaneswar, including the IMS & SUM Hospital medical campus, which is also a functioning tertiary-care hospital.

University Type

SOA is a private, UGC-recognised Deemed-to-be University. It runs its own entrance test — SAAT (Siksha 'O' Anusandhan Admission Test) — for undergraduate and postgraduate admission across most of its constituent institutes, while also accepting national-level exams (JEE Main, NEET, CLAT, CAT/XAT/MAT, GATE, NEET PG, GPAT, NEET MDS, NEET SS) depending on the specific programme.

Recognition & Accreditation

SOA holds a NAAC 'A++' grade in its third accreditation cycle. In NIRF 2025, it is reported to have achieved its University-category rank climbing into the top 10 nationally by at least one recent, specific figure (#7), a significant improvement over its NIRF 2024 University rank of #14 — though other sources cite different, lower-ranked figures for the University category in the same approximate period (e.g. a #15 figure), so the exact current position should be confirmed directly against nirfindia.org.

Key Highlights

  • •Founded 1996 as ITER (engineering); deemed-to-be-university status since 2007
  • •NAAC A++ accredited (3rd cycle)
  • •127-acre main campus (most sources) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha
  • •Nine constituent institutes spanning Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Law, Business & Computer Studies, Agricultural Sciences, Hotel Management, and Nursing
  • •Admits primarily via its own SAAT entrance test, alongside JEE Main, NEET, CLAT, CAT/XAT/MAT, GATE and other national exams depending on programme
  • •NIRF 2025: strong, top-tier rankings reported in several individual categories (e.g. Dental #9, Law #10), alongside a reported University-category rank that different sources place variously around #7-15
SOA is organised as a federation of nine constituent institutes, each focused on a specific professional or academic discipline, operating under the common SOA University umbrella and its central SAAT admission process (with discipline-specific national exams also accepted where applicable).

The Nine Constituent Institutes

  • •Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) — Engineering and Technology
  • •Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital (IMS & SUM Hospital) — Medicine (MBBS, MD/MS)
  • •Institute of Dental Sciences (IDS) — Dentistry (BDS, MDS)
  • •School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (SPS) — Pharmacy (B.Pharm, M.Pharm, PharmD)
  • •Institute of Business and Computer Studies (IBCS) — Management and Computer Applications (BBA, MBA, BCA, MCA)
  • •SOA National Institute of Law (SNIL) — Law (BA LLB, LLM)
  • •Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS) — Agriculture (B.Sc. Agriculture, M.Sc. Agriculture)
  • •School of Hotel Management (SHM) — Hospitality (BHM, Hotel Management diplomas)
  • •SUM Nursing College (SNC) — Nursing (B.Sc. Nursing, M.Sc. Nursing)

ITER — The Founding Institute

ITER was SOA's original institute, established in 1996 before the university's deemed status in 2007, and remains its largest and most widely recognised constituent institute by programme count and B.Tech specialisation breadth. It is also the institute most frequently referenced in the sources used for this guide's Cutoff and Placements sections, which is why ITER-specific B.Tech data is the most extensively covered of any single institute in this file.

IMS & SUM Hospital — A Teaching Hospital Model

The Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital stands out among SOA's institutes for combining a degree-granting medical college with a functioning, full-service tertiary-care hospital on the same campus — a model that allows MBBS, MD/MS and allied-health students to train in a live clinical environment rather than relying solely on an affiliated external hospital for clinical rotations.

IDS, SPS and SNC — Allied Health & Life Sciences

The Institute of Dental Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and SUM Nursing College round out SOA's health-sciences cluster alongside the medical institute, together admitting students into dentistry, pharmacy and nursing — three of India's most consistently in-demand allied-health career paths.

IBCS and SNIL — Business and Law

The Institute of Business and Computer Studies houses SOA's management and computer-applications programmes (BBA, MBA, BCA, MCA), while the SOA National Institute of Law runs the university's integrated law degree. Together these represent SOA's non-STEM, non-health professional programme cluster.

IAS and SHM — Agriculture and Hospitality

The Institute of Agricultural Sciences and the School of Hotel Management are comparatively smaller, more specialised constituent institutes, offering B.Sc. Agriculture and BHM (Bachelor of Hotel Management) respectively — two professional fields not commonly offered together at a single Indian deemed university, further illustrating SOA's unusually broad institutional scope.
SOA offers a very large number of programmes across its nine institutes — total programme counts are reported inconsistently across sources, ranging from roughly 98 to over 160 UG/PG/PhD programmes combined.

UG Courses at SOA (by Institute)

  • •ITER (Engineering) — B.Tech across multiple specialisations: Computer Science & Engineering, Computer Science & Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Cyber Security, Data Science, Internet of Things, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Biotechnology
  • •IMS & SUM Hospital (Medical) — MBBS
  • •IDS (Dental) — BDS
  • •SPS (Pharmacy) — B.Pharm, PharmD
  • •IBCS (Business & Computer Studies) — BBA, BCA
  • •SNIL (Law) — BA LLB (Hons.), integrated law programmes
  • •IAS (Agriculture) — B.Sc. Agriculture
  • •SHM (Hotel Management) — BHM (Bachelor of Hotel Management)
  • •SNC (Nursing) — B.Sc. Nursing

PG Courses at SOA (by Institute)

  • •ITER — M.Tech across multiple engineering specialisations, MCA, M.Sc.
  • •IMS & SUM Hospital — MD/MS across multiple medical specialisations
  • •IDS — MDS across multiple dental specialisations
  • •SPS — M.Pharm
  • •IBCS — MBA/PGDM, MCA
  • •SNIL — LLM
  • •IAS — M.Sc. Agriculture
  • •SNC — M.Sc. Nursing

PhD & Other Programmes

SOA runs PhD programmes across most of its constituent institutes, admitted through the university's own research-admission process, generally requiring a relevant master's degree.

Most Popular Courses

B.Tech Computer Science & Engineering (and its related specialisations in AI/ML, Cyber Security and Data Science) at ITER, and MBBS at IMS & SUM Hospital, are the most sought-after programmes at SOA, consistent with national demand patterns for engineering and medical seats at deemed universities.
SOA's fee figures are reported with an unusually wide spread across sources — among the widest in this series — with the total B.Tech fee for the 4-year programme reported anywhere from roughly ₹8.3 lakh to ₹13.4 lakh, and even per-semester figures disagreeing by a factor of nearly 2x between sources.

Course-wise Fee Overview (as reported by aggregators)

  • •B.Tech (per semester): one source cites ₹1,17,500 to ₹1,67,500 per semester across specialisations (implying roughly ₹9.4–13.4 lakh over 4 years); a separate source cites a flat, lower ₹1.7 lakh per year (~₹6.8 lakh over 4 years, excluding hostel) specifically for 'ITER Bhubaneswar'
  • •B.Tech (total 4-year, as reported by other sources): ₹9,16,000 (one aggregator, uniform across most branches); ₹9,40,000–13,40,000 depending on branch, with 'Core Engineering' at the lower end and 'Emerging Areas in Computing' (AI/ML, Cyber Security, Data Science) at the upper end (a different aggregator); ₹4,80,000–5,00,000 for CSE/IT/AI-ML specifically (a third aggregator, which appears to be reporting a substantially lower figure than the others); and ₹11,80,000 specifically for B.Tech Computer Science and Information Technology (a fourth, older source)
  • •MBBS (total, 5.5 years): reported at ₹23,31,000 by one source, ₹98,78,000 by another, and ₹99,75,000 by a third — a discrepancy of roughly ₹75 lakh between the lowest and highest figures found, almost certainly reflecting either a data error in one or more sources or genuinely different fee categories (e.g. management quota vs merit seats) that were not clearly distinguished in the reporting
  • •BDS (total): ₹27,50,000 (one source)
  • •M.Pharm (total, 2 years): approximately ₹2.76 lakh (one source)

Tuition Fee

Tuition is generally payable each semester or year, with branch and institute-specific variation. Given the scale of disagreement across sources for SOA's fee figures — particularly for MBBS, where the spread between the lowest and highest reported total exceeds ₹75 lakh — prospective students should treat every aggregator-reported fee figure with significant caution and request the official, current fee schedule directly from the relevant SOA institute.

Hostel & Other Charges

SOA is reported to provide on-campus hostel accommodation across its institutes; specific, verified hostel fee figures were not consistently found across the sources reviewed for this guide.

Approximate Total Cost

Because SOA's own fee figures disagree so widely across aggregator sources — particularly and most strikingly for MBBS — no reliable, single total-cost estimate is presented here for any programme. Download the official fee structure from soa.ac.in (or the specific constituent institute's own page) before budgeting or publishing any specific total.

Admission Process

Admission to most UG and PG programmes at SOA is based on SAAT (Siksha 'O' Anusandhan Admission Test), the university's own entrance examination, conducted for both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. SOA also accepts a range of national-level exams depending on the specific programme: JEE Main (B.Tech, as an alternative to SAAT), NEET UG (MBBS, BDS), NEET PG (MD/MS), NEET MDS (MDS), NEET SS (super-speciality medical programmes), GATE (M.Tech), GPAT (M.Pharm), CLAT (Law), and CAT/XAT/MAT (MBA).

Eligibility Criteria

  • •B.Tech: Class 12 pass with Physics and Mathematics compulsory, with a minimum aggregate reported variously as 45% (40% for SC/ST/OBC, per one source) or 60% (50% for reserved categories, per another source) — this is a significant discrepancy and the exact current-cycle figure should be confirmed directly
  • •MBBS/BDS: Class 12 pass with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, a minimum aggregate reported at 50%, and a qualifying NEET UG score
  • •M.Tech: B.E./B.Tech in the relevant discipline, with a valid GATE score or SAAT (PG) qualification
  • •MBA: Bachelor's degree with a valid CAT/XAT/MAT score or SAAT (PG) qualification
  • •PhD: Master's degree in the relevant discipline, per the university's own research-admission criteria

Application Process

Candidates register on the official SOA admissions portal, fill in academic and personal details, pay the application fee, appear for SAAT (or submit a valid JEE Main/NEET/CLAT/CAT-family score as applicable to their programme), and proceed through the university's own counselling process for seat allotment across its constituent institutes.

Entrance Exams & Selection Criteria

SAAT is SOA's own computer-based entrance test, covering subjects relevant to the chosen programme stream (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics/Biology for engineering and medical-adjacent UG programmes; relevant subjects for other streams), conducted for both UG and PG admission across most of the university's nine institutes.

Important Dates

Exact dates shift every cycle for SAAT and for each of the national exams SOA accepts — always check the official admissions portal (soa.ac.in) for the current cycle's exact schedule for your specific programme and institute.

NIRF Ranking

SOA's NIRF figures are reported with real variation across sources and categories. For NIRF 2025, individual category ranks reported include Dental #9, Law #10, Engineering around #22, and Research around #49; the University-category rank is reported anywhere from #7 to #15 depending on the source, and Overall is reported around #24-25. For NIRF 2024, University rank is reported at #14, Engineering at #26, Dental/Law at #9, Medical at #21, Management at #62, and Research at #50.

NAAC / Accreditation

SOA holds a NAAC 'A++' grade in its third accreditation cycle — this figure is consistently reported across sources, unlike several of SOA's other ranking metrics.

Other Credible Rankings

  • •QS World University Rankings: reported in the #1001-1200 band for 2023 by one source
  • •QS Asia (Southern Asia) Rankings: reported at #64 for 2025 by one source
  • •THE (Times Higher Education) World University Rankings: reported in the #801-1000 band for 2025 by one source
SOA's placement figures, like its fee figures, show substantial disagreement across sources — the highest package for B.Tech/ITER graduates is variously reported as ₹6 LPA, ₹10-15 LPA, ₹20-30 LPA, ₹21 LPA, ₹43 LPA, and ₹47 LPA depending on the source, a spread wide enough that no single figure can be presented with confidence.

Highest Package

Reported highest packages for B.Tech/ITER graduates range extremely widely: ₹6 LPA (one older, low-confidence source), ₹10-15 LPA (another source), ₹20-30 LPA (a student-review-style source), ₹21 LPA (a different source), ₹43 LPA (a more recent aggregator), and ₹47 LPA (a student-review comment on another page). This level of disagreement means the figure should be treated with significant caution.

Average / Median Package

Reported average or median figures for B.Tech/ITER also vary: ₹2-3 LPA (one low source), ₹4-6 LPA (several sources converge roughly here), ₹4.5 LPA (one source), ₹5.75 LPA (NIRF-linked median, specifically for the 2022 data cited by one source), ₹6 LPA (another source, described as the 'NIRF placement' median), and ₹6-8 LPA (a higher estimate from a student review).

Placement Rate

Placement rate figures also disagree: 80-90% (one source), 85-95%+ (another), 89.8% specifically for 2023-24 (a third, more precise figure), and 96.38% for 2022 (a fourth source, in the same context as the ₹5.75 LPA median and 164 recruiters for that year).

Top Recruiters

Recruiters cited across sources include TCS, Cognizant, Infosys, Amazon, Wipro, Accenture, Deloitte, and Tech Mahindra.

MBBS / Medical Placement (via NIRF data)

One source, citing NIRF's own placement disclosure data, reports that of 148 MBBS graduates in 2023, all 148 were placed, with a median package of ₹9 LPA — a notably higher and more consistent figure than the B.Tech placement data, and sourced from what appears to be an official NIRF disclosure rather than a general aggregator estimate.

Merit-Based Scholarships

One source states that SOA offers 'generous scholarships' based on Class 10, Class 12, or graduation marks and SAAT performance, without detailing a specific slab-by-slab percentage table in the sources reviewed for this guide.

Confirm Before Publishing

No official, detailed scholarship PDF or slab table (of the kind published by some other deemed universities covered in this series) was found in the sources reviewed. Confirm the exact current eligibility criteria and award amounts directly with the SOA admissions office, and with the specific constituent institute relevant to the student's chosen programme, before publishing specific claims.

Campus

SOA's main campus is reported at 127 acres in Bhubaneswar, Odisha; a separate, apparently broader figure of 452 acres is cited by one source as the university's total area — these are likely describing different scopes (a single main campus vs. the combined footprint of all constituent institutes and the hospital campus) rather than a simple factual conflict, but should be confirmed with the university before being presented as a single figure.

SUM Hospital

The Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital constituent institute includes a functioning tertiary-care teaching hospital, which serves both the clinical training needs of SOA's medical and allied-health students and the broader Bhubaneswar community as a healthcare facility.

Library & Labs

Specific, verified library and laboratory facility details for SOA's various constituent institutes were not found in the sources reviewed for this guide — confirm current infrastructure specifics with the relevant institute before publishing precise claims.

Hostels

On-campus hostel facilities are referenced generally by aggregator sources across SOA's institutes, but specific, verified fee or capacity figures were not found — confirm directly with the university.

Multi-Institute Structure

SOA's nine-institute structure means that facilities, faculty, and campus infrastructure can differ meaningfully between (for example) the engineering-focused ITER campus and the hospital-based IMS & SUM Hospital campus — specific claims about 'campus facilities' should be made with reference to the relevant constituent institute, not the university as an undifferentiated whole.

Frequently Asked Questions — SOA University