Can you get a Harvard or Stanford degree based in India? What UGC guidelines say

Though a substantial step has been taken up by the UGC to provide more opportunities to Indian students who currently wish to seek knowledge and degree from universities abroad, a few clarifications are still needed. (Illustration by Suneesh Kalarickal)

Foreign universities will need the University Grants Commission's (UGC) nod to set up campuses in India and the initial approval will be for 10 years, chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said.

Kumar said this on Thursday last week as the UGC announced the draft regulations for 'Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India'.

Foreign universities with campuses in the country, he said, can only offer full-time programmes in the physical mode and not online or distance learning.

These universities, like Harvard or Stanford, will have the freedom to devise their admission process and fee structure, Kumar said.

Only reputed, physical universities to be allowed

The UGC draft has specifically mentioned that no Foreign Higher Educational Institution (FHEI) shall set up campuses in India without the approval of the UGC.

UGC will regulate the entry and operations of Foreign Universities/ Institutions in India to conduct undergraduate, post-graduate, doctoral, post-doctoral and other programmes and award degrees, diplomas, and certificates in all disciplines.

The programmes offered will not be conducted in the online and Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode.

Besides, the foreign universities should have secured a position within the top 500 of overall/subject-wise global rankings, as decided by the UGC from time to time. In the case of a foreign educational institution, the applicant should be a “reputed institution” in its home jurisdiction, UGC said.

Foreign colleges need to treat degrees equally

While applying to enter India, educational institutes and universities need to file an undertaking that the quality of education imparted by its Indian campus is on par with that of the main campus in the country of origin.

UGC said the qualifications awarded to the students in the Indian campus shall be recognised and treated as “equivalent to the corresponding qualifications awarded by the FHEIs in the main campus” located in the home country.

This means that students should not be required to seek equivalence from any authority. More importantly, this applies to higher education and employment.

Freedom to decide fees and appoint faculties

UGC has allowed foreign educational institutions to “evolve their admission process and criteria” to admit domestic and foreign students, and can also decide the fee structure, “which should be transparent and reasonable”.

The institutions are permitted to offer scholarships via funds such as endowment funds, alumni donations, tuition revenues and others.

According to their recruitment norms, institutions can recruit faculty and staff from India and abroad and have the freedom to decide the qualifications, salary structure, and other conditions of service for appointing faculty and staff.

However, colleges have to ensure that the qualifications of these faculties should be similar to the main campus of the country of origin and foreign faculty need to stay at the campus in India for a “reasonable period”.

What we don't know so far

Though a substantial step has been taken up by the UGC to provide more opportunities to Indian students who currently wish to seek knowledge and degree from universities abroad, a few clarifications are still needed.

Multiple experts have questioned the role of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in technical programmes offered by foreign universities in India.

AICTE is a national-level apex authority for the management of technical education in the country.

Also, guidelines are silent on whether foreign institutions are allowed to enter India through joint ventures, experts pointed out.