Best Courses After 10+2 in India

1) Law

The demand for legal studies in India remains very high. Universities Grant Commission estimates, some 390,000 students graduate with law degrees every year.

The five year course called Bachelor of Arts and Legum Baccalaureus (LLB) is offered primarily at government colleges in India.

A typical BA, LLB course costs around Rs. 900,000 to Rs. 325,000 depending upon the university/college. Government Law Colleges across the country affiliated to state-run universities offer the course.

2) Medical 

One of the most attractive course after 12th. Over 60,000 students graduate as doctors every year. These include graduates in Allopathy, Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani and dentistry streams of medicine.

Common courses are Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Science (MBBS), Bachelor of Ayurveda Medicine and Science (BAMS), Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Science (BUMS), Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Science (BHMS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS).

In some universities, the word ‘science’ is replaced by ‘surgery’. A course in medical studies costs Rs. 2900,000 to Rs. 1 million.

Top colleges in India are All India Institute of Medical Science(AIMMS), New Delhi, Grant Medical College, Mumbai, Goa Medical College, Bambolim, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Jamia Milia University, New Delhi, Government Medical College, Puducherry and JIPMER, Jaipur.

Courses in psychiatry are offered by National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore and Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa.

3) Architecture

An estimated 70,000 students graduate from the five-year Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) course in India every year.

But this figure is ambiguous. Various societies of architectures state, civil engineers also study architecture online or private colleges informally.

An architecture course costs between Rs. 215,000 to Rs. 590,000 depending upon the institute.

Top architecture institutes include JJ School of Architecture, Mumbai, Narsi Monjee College of Management, Mumbai and various state-run universities.

4) Chartered Accountant

The best professional course for higher education is Chartered Accountancy. The 3 to 5 year course, depending upon the amount of time taken to complete it, allows flexibility to work and study.

Indeed, it is mandatory to work while studying. CA course and exam is administered by ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) and no other college or university is authorized to qualify a person as a CA.

The course costs around Rs. 55,000 only, which is the cheapest for all profession related studies. An estimated 100,000 students enroll for the CA exams but only 3-4 percent actually complete this highly complex and competitive course.

5) Journalism

The boom in advertising as well as print, electronic and digital news media, increase in film production has seen a corresponding rise in number of students opting for media and journalism studies as one of the top course after 12th.

Typical journalism courses are of three years and cost around Rs. 300,000 for a Bachelor of Communication and Journalism or Bachelor of Mass Communication degree.

Top universities in this field Osmania University, Hyderabad, Pune University, St. Xavier Institutes, various locations.

The exact number of journalism graduates remains unknown because the stream is considered part of fine arts and literature studies.

6) Internet, web designing, IT

India ranks as the top destination for foreign companies looking to hire IT experts. Over 100,000 students enroll for various IT or web design courses in India.

But this figure is far from accurate since a large number of engineering students also take IT related studies as part of their course.

Bachelor of Computer Science, Bachelor of Computer Management are some of the top IT related courses offered by various colleges and universities.

A typical three-year course costs around Rs. 400,000 to Rs. 1 million, depending upon the college/ university. IIT and various state-run universities are the best for IT studies.

7) Nursing

India requires tens of thousands of nurses, paramedics and care-givers annually due to burgeoning healthcare scenarios.

BSc Nursing is an excellent course to study if you possess acumen for caring for humans of all ages and a stomach to witness blood and gore typical to accidents and surgery wards.

Around 20,000 male and female nurses graduate every year from various medical and nursing colleges in India. Topmost among them are Maharashtra Nursing College, Government College of Nursing, Kerala, Goa Nursing College, various hospitals and medicine study institutes and universities.

A BSc Nursing degree costs between Rs. 100,000 and Rs. 300,000.

8) Pharmacy

About 25,000 students graduate as pharmacist from various universities in India every year. Pharmacy studies are gaining momentum due to opening of several new and private healthcare facilities across the country.

India’s Food and Drug Administration has also made it mandatory for all large medical companies, distributors and retailers to hire qualified pharmacists, as part of licensing policy.

A pharmacy course- BPharm- is spread over three years and costs about Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 200,000 each. All major state-run universities offer BPharm courses.

9) Commercial Pilot

A huge demand for qualified commercial pilots exists in India as the country’s aviation sector witnesses a boom. Flying is also a very lucrative profession after 12th

It offers commercial pilots an opportunity to see the world. Sadly, training institutes for pilots in India are few. Most aspiring commercial pilots are forced to study abroad or join the Indian Armed Forces for training.

A flying course costs whopping Rs.2.5 million and upwards. India requires about 8,000 commercial pilots annually to keep airlines operational. Local flying schools account for less than 1,000 trained pilots.

A bulk of pilots for India’s civil aviation are provided by the Indian Air Force. The only major flying school in India is Government Aviation Training Institute.

10) Engineering

By far, engineering remains one of the career oriented conventional professional course in India. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) states, about one million engineers graduate from government universities, polytechnics and private colleges every year.

Unspecified number of Indian students opt for engineering studies in the US and Australia. An engineering course in India costs anything between Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 1 million, depending upon the institute and branch you are choosing.

Top colleges for engineering are Indian Institute for Technology (IIT), College of Technology, Pune, Visveswaraya Institute of Engineering, Bengaluru and Mumbai based Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Sri Bhagubhai Mafatlal Polytechnic and Virmata Jijabai Technological Institute.

Below are some excellent courses that offer great careers but are relatively unknown-

Forensic sciences.
Agriculture ( including horticulture and floriculture)
Marine biology
Geology
Logistics and warehousing
Pyrotechnics
Nutrition
Food technology
Micro Biology
Industrial safety and security