Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself – John Dewey. This adage is perhaps best reflected in what the late Justice K S Hegde, a committed philanthropist and legal luminary strongly believed in – that education is vital for the overall progress of a community…and it is this vision that saw the birth of the Nitte Education Trust(NET).

In 1979, seven committed persons, all sharing the same concern to the cause of education and community development, under the leadership and guidance of Justice K S Hegde formed an association. Justice K S Hegde, conceived the idea of a trust, which would provide basic education, health care and train manpower. Thus, was born the Nitte Education Trust. It was formally baptised on August 30, 1979.

Justice K S Hegde, the founder was the prime mover of the Trust.

With emphasis being laid on education, the Trust established a high school at Nitte in 1979. Today, the Nitte Education Trust comprises a medical, dental and 4 paramedical colleges, a 600 bed speciality hospital, 2 engineering colleges, 2 MBA institutes, 2 MCA institutes, a college of hotel management, 2 technical training institutes, 2 first grade colleges, 2 pre-university colleges, 5 schools and a 3-star hotel – in all 23 institutions with 10,000 students, 3,500 staff and 18, 500 alumni.

Recognised as one of the finest educational institutions in Karnataka attracting students from all over India and abroad, the Trust has a Medical Sciences Complex at Deralakatte, Mangalore and 2 well developed campuses at Nitte and Bangalore . All the institutions maintained by the Trust have excellent infrastructural facilities like spacious classrooms, laboratories, libraries, faculty etc. The campuses have professionally and aesthetically designed buildings, surrounded by gardens and parks making it highly conducive for learning. Each is a self-contained campus with separate hostels for men and women with staff wardens, playgrounds, 24 hr telephone and Internet facilities, co-operative stores, a post office and a bank. The system of teacher guardianship wherein a group of 5 students are assigned a teacher is a unique feature of our institutions. This system helps a teacher attend to each student especially those who are weak academically. Professional campus counsellors interact with students having personal, disciplinary or emotional problems.
All the students of our institutions are covered by the Medicare scheme, which entitles them to free medical and dental care and treatment at the Justice K S Hegde Charitable Hospital.

The students are also encouraged to actively participate in our community development projects as the Trust not only believes that students become powerful by knowledge, but also that they become responsible citizens if they have an understanding of human conditions. It is the desire of the NET institutions to prepare and present to the society, young men and women, who have speculative knowledge (Jnana) and actual experience of the perfection (Vijana).

Justice K S Hegde Institute of Management was established by the Nitte Education Trust on July 4, 1998. Named after the visionary and founder, late Justice K S Hegde, the Institute offers a two-year full time MBA program recognised by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and the Government of Karnataka and is affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum.

The Institute is also recognised as a centre for guiding research. It is one among the very few AICTE-NBA accredited institutes and is certified to ISO 9001:2000 standards by KEMA, Netherlands. Justice K S Hegde Institute of Management has been ranked as an “A” level business school as per the Business India survey of 2006. The Institute has been recognised among the premier B-schools in Karnataka based on its performance in the field of academics, consultancy and research activity.