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IITs collectively have only 33k undergrads, according to wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institutes_of_Technolog...

That would make the entire system comparable to a large state school in the US. They do have proportionally more grad students, so total student body is right around the biggest state schools - Florida, Texas, Ohio, etc.

Definitely not on the same level as Stanford or Harvard, but still very impressive.

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That's after accounting for the recent increases in student intake. All but the oldest seven have started in the last decade, and the older seven have also increased their intake by 50-100% in the meanwhile. So, as of a decade ago, the IITs would have been graduating ~2000 undergrads per year, all seven institutions combined. (The counting is a little complicated, but I expect that number to be less than ~3000 nonetheless)

That's the relevant number, since those who've founded unicorns can probably be assumed to have started their undergraduate education at least a decade ago. (4-5 years in college and then at least a few years working).

A billion people and such a tiny investment in education. Wow. Indians are lucky that's finally starting to change.

Surprisingly, most oppose the creation of new IITs, claiming that it "dilutes" the brand.

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