Anna University, Chennai was established on 4th September 1978 as a unitary-type university by the Government of Tamil Nadu, named after former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr. C.N. Annadurai. It was formed by integrating four well-known technical institutions in Chennai (then Madras): College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG, established 1794 — Asia's oldest technical institution and the oldest established outside Europe), Alagappa College of Technology (ACT, established 1944), Madras Institute of Technology (MIT, established 1949), and School of Architecture and Planning (SAP, established 1957). Anna University offers higher education in Engineering, Technology, Architecture and Applied Sciences, and is one of India's largest affiliating technical universities, with 16 constituent colleges and 494 affiliated colleges, offering 84 UG programmes and 171 PG programmes across 4,845 UG and 9,690 PG subjects, and over 2,261 PhD scholars on-roll across its four campuses (13,247 more across other affiliated campuses). The university is well known for producing notable alumni including Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (former President of India), Dr. K. Sivan (former ISRO Chairman), and numerous industrialists, scientists and public figures. As per NIRF 2025, Anna University is ranked #20 in the University category, #20 in Engineering, #29 Overall, #88 in Management, #26 in Research Institutions and #9 in Innovation, and 2nd among State Public Universities. It is ranked 470th in the QS World University Rankings 2027 (11th among Indian institutions considered) and was ranked 1st in India and 42nd in the world in the Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2025. Anna University is NAAC accredited and its engineering programmes hold NBA accreditation. The university admits students to its constituent campuses — CEG (Guindy), MIT (Chromepet), ACT (Guindy) and SAP (Guindy) — mainly through Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) for UG programmes and TANCET/CEETA-PG for PG programmes. Notable achievements include launching India's first microsatellite (ANUSAT) in 2009, operating India's first RPTO (Remote Pilot Training Organization) approved by DGCA, running Anna Community Radio (India's first educational-institution community radio, since 2004), and hosting several unique national research facilities such as the Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS), Crystal Growth Centre (CGC), Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMMRC), NHHID, and the AU-KBC Research Centre. Fee structure (CEG regular B.E./B.Tech programme, AY 2025-26, Tamil Nadu General category, as per official CEG UG Fee Structure notification): total 4-year academic fee is approximately Rs. 1.38–2.16 lakh depending on category/component structure, comprising one-time fees at admission, a refundable caution deposit, and semester fees payable each of the 8 semesters. Self-supporting seats at CEG cost more — first semester Rs. 41,800 and Rs. 25,000/semester thereafter, totalling around Rs. 2,16,800 for 4 years. Overall, third-party aggregated data (from official notifications) puts total BE/BTech cost including hostel at roughly Rs. 3.9–4.7 lakh for 4 years, and MCA (regular, TANCET-admitted) at about Rs. 34,325 per semester. Exact per-programme, per-campus fee tables are published each year on the official CEG/MIT/ACT/SAP fee-structure PDFs linked from the university's Admissions & Fee section, and candidates should verify current figures there before admission. Anna University's Centre for University Industry Collaboration (CUIC) coordinates campus placements. Per aggregated third-party placement reporting for the 2024 cycle, the average package across Anna University campuses stood at around Rs. 8.54 LPA, with roughly 1,792–2,114 students placed in recent cycles. Placement records vary significantly by campus (CEG, MIT, ACT, SAP) and branch; official, verified per-branch and per-year placement statistics are published via NIRF disclosures and the CUIC portal and should be checked there for the latest figures.