Policies, Governance and Administration

Education is a shared responsibility of the Union and the States. Before the 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976) education was mainly a State subject (State List, Entry 11); the amendment moved it to the Concurrent List (now Entry 25), which reads "education, including technical education, medical education and universities, subject to the provisions of Entries 63, 64, 65 and 66 of List I". The Union List keeps the key national powers: Entry 63 (BHU, AMU, Delhi University and other institutions declared by Parliament to be of national importance), Entry 64 (institutions for scientific or technical education financed by the Government of India and declared Institutes of National Importance), Entry 65 (Union agencies for professional, vocational or technical training) and Entry 66 (coordination and determination of standards in higher education and research and scientific and technical institutions). Entry 32 of the State List covers the incorporation and regulation of universities other than those in the Union List. On Concurrent subjects, if a Union law and State law conflict, Article 254 generally makes the Union law prevail, unless a State law was reserved for the President and received assent.

In practice: Central universities are created by Acts of Parliament and funded by the Centre; State universities by State Legislatures; deemed universities are declared by the Central Government on UGC advice (Section 3 of the UGC Act); private universities by State Acts, with UGC regulations (2003) applying; Institutes of National Importance by special Acts. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), first set up in 1920, is the apex advisory forum on education.

Officers.

Authorities and bodies.

• Executive Council (Syndicate in some State universities): the principal executive body; manages property, finances, appointments and policy; chaired by the VC.

• Academic Council: the principal academic body; controls teaching, courses, curricula, examinations and academic standards; presided over by the VC.

• Court (Senate): a large, broad-based body that reviews the annual report and accounts and advises on policy; Senate is the older name in many universities.

• Board of Studies (BoS): recommends courses of study and syllabi for a subject or department; its proposals are approved by the Academic Council.

• Faculty: deals with the courses in a group of subjects.

• Finance Committee, Planning Board, Selection Committees: the Finance Committee advises the Executive Council; Selection Committees (chaired by the VC) recommend teacher appointments.

• IQAC (Internal Quality Assurance Cell): created on NAAC advice (2005 onwards); chaired by the head of the institution; coordinates quality initiatives and prepares the Annual Quality Assurance Report (AQAR).

In colleges the equivalents are the Governing Body or Managing Committee (policy and finance), the Principal (day-to-day head), the Staff Council, and in autonomous colleges the Governing Body, Academic Council and Boards of Studies, which frame syllabi, conduct examinations and publish results, while the degree is awarded by the parent university.

• UGC (Act 1956): funding, coordination and standards for universities (see topic 2). Regulations include minimum qualifications for teachers, ragging (2009), equity (2012), plagiarism (2018), PhD (2022), ODL (2020) and graded autonomy (2018).

• AICTE (Act 1987): technical education. NCTE (Act 1993): teacher education. NMC, BCI and other councils: professional domains (see topic 4).

• NAAC (1994; Bengaluru): accreditation of institutions. Its assessment framework has seven criteria: curricular aspects, teaching-learning and evaluation, research and innovation, infrastructure and learning resources, student support and progression, governance, leadership and management, and institutional values and best practices. Grades run from C to A++ on a four-point CGPA scale (A++ is 3.51 to 4.00 and A+ is 3.26 to 3.50 in the older scheme). NAAC has been moving towards binary accreditation (accredited or not accredited) with maturity-based graded levels.

• NBA (1994; autonomous 2010): programme-level accreditation (technical).

• NIRF (2015): ranking on five parameters (teaching, learning and resources; research and professional practice; graduation outcomes; outreach and inclusivity; perception).

• NTA (2017): conducts national entrance tests (CUET, NEET, JEE Main, UGC NET and others).

• AIU (Association of Indian Universities): grants equivalence to degrees. NIEPA: educational planning and administration research. NCERT (1961): school curriculum. AISHE: annual survey of higher education by the Ministry of Education.

• UGC Graded Autonomy Regulations (2018): institutions meeting thresholds (for example NAAC score 3.51 or higher for Category I universities) get freedom to start courses, open campuses and set up incubators without prior approval.

Background. NEP 2020 was approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 July 2020, replacing the NPE of 1986 (as modified in 1992). It was drafted by a committee under K. Kasturirangan (draft submitted 2019) after the Subramanian committee (2016). The Ministry of Human Resource Development was renamed Ministry of Education.

Targets. GER in higher education from about 26.3 per cent (2018) to 50 per cent by 2035, adding 3.5 crore seats; public spending of 6 per cent of GDP; school structure 5+3+3+4.

Institutional restructuring.

1. Type 1 research-intensive universities, Type 2 teaching-intensive universities, Type 3 autonomous degree-granting colleges.

2. MERUs (Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities) as models of excellence, at par with IITs and IIMs.

3. Multidisciplinary institutions: at least one in or near every district by 2030; each HEI to aim for 3,000 or more students; standalone technical, health, legal and agricultural universities to become multidisciplinary.

4. Affiliation to be phased out over about 15 years; colleges to become autonomous degree-granting or constituent colleges; graded accreditation leading to graded autonomy.

5. Independent Boards of Governors for HEIs, "light but tight" regulation.

Curriculum and degrees.

• Four-year multidisciplinary undergraduate programme with multiple exit options: certificate (after one year), diploma (two years), bachelor's degree (three years), bachelor's with research (four years); one-year master's after a four-year degree; M.Phil. discontinued; Ph.D. after a master's or four-year bachelor's degree with research.

• Flexibility: freedom to combine major and minor subjects across streams; vocational integration (50 per cent of learners exposed by 2025); Indian Knowledge Systems, classical languages, Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation; teaching in mother tongue or bilingually.

• Academic Bank of Credits (ABC): digital storage of credits earned from recognised HEIs so that degrees can be awarded with credits earned over time.

Admissions and assessment. National Testing Agency to offer common aptitude and subject tests (CUET). Holistic assessment and the National Assessment Centre (PARAKH) for schools.

Faculty. Tenure-track system by 2030; faculty autonomy; National Mission for Mentoring; four-year integrated B.Ed. as the minimum teaching qualification by 2030; professional standards (NPST).

Research. National Research Foundation (Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act 2023), research-intensive universities and competitive funding across disciplines.

Equity and inclusion. Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones, scholarships, and support for socio-economically disadvantaged groups; all HEIs to be not-for-profit.

Technology. National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), a National Digital University, online and ODL expansion with quality equal to in-class programmes.

Internationalisation. Entry of top foreign universities by a legislative framework, credit recognition, research collaboration, and an International Students Office in HEIs.

• Academic Bank of Credits: launched 28 July 2021 (first anniversary of NEP); credits stored in DigiLocker; credits are valid for seven years; regulations notified by UGC in 2021. ABC is a credit bank, not a degree-awarding body. APAAR ID ("One Nation One Student ID") links records.

• National Credit Framework (NCrF, 2023): integrates school, higher and vocational credits; 1,200 notional learning hours = 40 credits per year; one credit corresponds to 15 hours of theory and 30 hours of practical in a semester.

• Typical credit load: 120 credits for a three-year UG degree; 160 credits for a four-year honours degree. Major, Minor, Multidisciplinary, Ability Enhancement (AEC), Skill Enhancement (SEC) and Value Added Courses (VAC) form the UGC structure.

• Multiple entry and exit: learners can leave with certificate, diploma or degree at the end of years 1, 2 or 3 and re-enter later within permitted limits.

• Dual degrees and twinning: UGC (2022) allows pursuing two programmes simultaneously and set up regulations for joint, dual and twinning degrees with foreign institutions ranked within the top 1,000 globally (Indian partners need NAAC 3.01 or NIRF top 100).

• PhD norms (2022): four-year UG graduates with at least 75 per cent can enter doctoral programmes; NET qualifies for fellowships.

Policy goals are to attract foreign students (Study in India, 2018), make India a global study destination, improve quality through competition, and reduce outbound student flow. GIAN (2015) brings foreign academics for short courses; SPARC (2018) supports research collaboration; Institutions of Eminence (2017; up to 20 institutions) receive greater autonomy, including freedom to admit foreign students up to 30 per cent.

UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023 (notified November 2023):

• Eligible: foreign HEIs within the top 500 global rankings (overall or subject-wise) or otherwise reputed institutions; they must set up an actual campus (not a franchise), cannot offer online or ODL programmes, and the qualification must match that of the home campus.

• Operational autonomy: foreign campuses decide admission process and fees (reasonable and transparent) and can recruit faculty from India and abroad; repatriation of funds is allowed under Indian law.

• Approval: Letter of Intent, then a Letter of Approval. The University of Southampton (Gurugram) was the first under these regulations; Deakin University was the first foreign campus at GIFT City, Gujarat, regulated by IFSCA (International Financial Services Centres Authority) rules of 2022.

• NEP 2020 had spoken of allowing the world's top 100 universities, whereas the UGC regulations use a top 500 threshold.

• Indian campuses abroad: IIT Madras at Zanzibar, Tanzania (2023) and IIT Delhi at Abu Dhabi (2024).

Long road to a single regulator.

1. National Knowledge Commission (2005 to 09; Sam Pitroda) recommended an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE).

2. Yash Pal Committee (2009) recommended the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER).

3. Draft HECI Act (2018) proposed to repeal the UGC Act 1956 and create a Higher Education Commission of India that would regulate (but not fund) HEIs, with funding handled by the Ministry.

4. NEP 2020 proposed HECI as a single overarching regulator with four verticals: NHERC (regulation), GEC (standard setting through graduate attributes and the NHEQF), HEGC (funding) and NAC (accreditation). Medical and legal education are outside HECI.

5. Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025 was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2025 by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and referred to a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (21 from Lok Sabha, 10 from Rajya Sabha). It proposes to repeal the UGC Act 1956, the AICTE Act 1987 and the NCTE Act 1993, and sets up three councils: the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Viniyaman Parishad (regulation), the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Gunvatta Parishad (accreditation) and the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Manak Parishad (standards), keeping medical and legal education outside its scope.

Status. As of July 2026 the Bill was pending before the JPC and had not been enacted. Check the latest PRS India or Lok Sabha updates for anything after that.

• PM-USHA (2023) merged RUSA (2013) to fund State institutions.

• One Nation One Subscription (approved 2024, rolled out 2025) gives access to scholarly journals to public institutions.

• CUET (2022): common entrance for central and participating universities.

• NAAC reforms (2024): binary accreditation and maturity-based levels.

• HEFA (2017): Higher Education Financing Agency, loans for infrastructure.

• Institutions of Eminence (2017): up to 20 institutions with autonomy.