UGC NORMS ON FOREIGN UNIVERSITIES

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• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released draft guidelines for encouraging foreign universities and educational institutions to set up campuses in India.
  • They will have the autonomy to determine fees.
  • Time-bound “90 ­day” approval process.
• The draft is open for public comments, after getting and analyzing feedback from all stakeholders, the final guidelines will be notified at the end of January 2023.

Key Points of the Draft :

• A foreign university with a rank among the top 500 global rankings or a foreign educational institution of repute in the home country can apply to the UGC to set up a campus in India.
  • The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 also allowed top universities in the world to operate in India.
• A legislative framework promoting such entry will be put in place.
• They will have special power regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India.
• UGC will appoint a standing committee to decide on the application within 45 days after examining the institution’s credibility, programs offered, potential to strengthen educational opportunities in India, and proposed academic infrastructure.
  • Within 45 days, the UGC may grant in­principle approval to the foreign institution to set up campuses in India within two years.
  • The initial approval will be for 10 years, which can be extended.
• They can evolve their admission process and criteria to admit domestic and foreign students.
• They will have the autonomy to decide their fee structure and will face no caps that are imposed on Indian institutions.
  • The only condition will be that the fee should be “reasonable and transparent”.
• They will have the autonomy to recruit faculty and staff from India and abroad.
• The courses to be offered cannot be online and open and in distance learning mode.
• The qualifications awarded to the students on the Indian campus should have equivalence with those awarded by the institutions in their country of origin.

University Grants Commission (UGC) :

• University Grants Commission is a statutory body under the University Grants Commission Act, of 1956.
• UGC is charged with the task of coordinating and maintaining standards of higher education in India.
• It provides recognition to universities and also allocates funds to universities and colleges.
• UGC headquarters are in New Delhi, and it also has 6 regional centers.
• All grants to universities and higher learning institutions are handled by the UGC.
• In 2015-16, the Union government initiated a National Institutional Ranking Framework under UGC to rank all educational institutes.
• UGC also conducts the National Eligibility Test (NET) for the appointments of teachers in colleges and universities.
• M Jagadesh Kumar is the current chairman of the UGC.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/foreign-universities-ugc-norms-earlier-bids-stalled-why-this-one-most-ambitious-8364293/