UGC allows state colleges to seek deemed-university status, become off-campus centres of other institutions
University Grants Commission: Top higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission (UGC) will now allow even constituent and autonomous colleges of state universities to apply for deemed-to-be university status, provided the state government finds them eligible and denotifies them. It will also allow a college or unit to become an “off-campus” centre of another institution. The UGC notified the amendments to its deemed university regulations this week.
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The UGC regulation amendment also states that deemed universities receiving 50% of funds from central or state governments need not renew their Memoranda of Association periodically provided they can generate enough funds to cover the remaining 50%. The amendment also adds a section on “universities sponsored by philanthropic organisations” to the 2023 deemed-university regulations and mandates National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grades of the latest three cycles for any institution to be considered for that status.
Officials point out that the provision allowing units of state universities to apply for deemed-university status will be a problem as most state governments would be reluctant to delist a well-functioning college under it. Earlier there was no such provision.
UGC ‘deemed’ status: Denotification, central control
The University Grants Commission [Institutions Deemed to be Universities] Amendment Regulations, 2023, stated, “Universities established under clause (f) of section 2 of the Act shall not be eligible to apply under these regulations for declaration under section 3 of the Act to declare an institution as an institution deemed to be university.”
Section 2 clause (f) of the Act includes colleges which become eligible for funding from the central government or central government agencies.
The amendment, now states, “Universities established under clause (f) of section 2 of the Act or a constituent unit of a university may also apply to become …deemed to be university or an off-campus of another institution deemed to be university and the existing university or constituent unit of a university shall submit a no objection certificate from appropriate authority in the state government.”
The important clause here includes: “The state government shall denotify them if they are found eligible to be granted the status …or as an off-campus of any other existing institution deemed to be university and the institution shall be permitted to admit students or work as an off-campus or a new institution deemed to be university only after formal denotification by the concerned state government.”
A government official on condition of anonymity, said, “Generally the colleges applying for the university status are well functioning ones. So why would state governments want to denotify them? It is ultimately the central government, which will have control over these institutions. It might again be a problem in states led by the opposition party.”
The 2023 regulations for affiliated colleges includes this section: “An institution deemed to be university may also apply on the Commission’s portal for establishing an off-campus centre by taking over any affiliated college under the same sponsoring society or trust or company by progressively closing the affiliated college to convert it into an off-campus centre. A no-objection certificate from the affiliating university shall accompany the application and the affiliating university may decide on granting it to the institution deemed to be university within a maximum period of 60 days from the date of receipt of the request, failing which it shall be presumed that the affiliating university has no objection to the application...”
New UGC Rules for Deemed University: No MoA renewal
The UGC amendment also eases compliance requirements of deemed universities that receive at least 50% of their funds from the central government. Such institutions – described in the amended rules as “sponsored by a philanthropic organisation” – will no longer be required to renew their Memorandum of Association (MoA), provided they can prove their financial self-sufficiency.
The central government “may permit an institution deemed to be university sponsored by a philanthropic organisation and substantially funded by government to continue with its existing MoA for such period of time as may be specified by the Central Government subject to the criteria that the institute shall demonstrate, through its duly audited books of accounts that it is able to generate a minimum of 50% of its revenue on their own, that is, total receipts as well as total expenses of the institute is more than twice the government grants,” the amended rules state.
“On the technical part, it is actually easing the institutions from the need to renew documents and reduce the bureaucratic work. But it is also about finding substantial funding of its own. But on the other hand it introduces the word philanthropic organisation. However, it doesn’t specify which organisation will qualify to become one,” said a senior official.
The rules stated that the institutions declared deemed-to-be universities prior to the date of commencement of these regulations shall amend the MoA to comply with these regulations within a period of one year from date of commencement of these regulations. The compliance report shall be submitted to the commission within the said time frame.
Deemed-to-be university: The growth story
As per the UGC website, there are a total 155 deemed-to-be universities under various categories. It has grown to 155 rather quickly from 126 just in 2022.
Tamil Nadu has the most number of such universities at 29, followed by Maharashtra at 24. It is regulated by UGC and they have to seek UGC and ministry of education intervention for:
- Approval for starting off-campus centre(s) and off-shore campus centre(s)
- Starting new courses /programmes/departments.
- Approval to offer distance education programmes among others.
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore is the first deemed to be university established in 1958. Recently the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) was granted the deemed-to-be university status.
In India, universities are set up through acts of parliament or state legislatures or their amendments. The deemed-to-be university is a special category under the UGC Act which allows standalone institutions without an underpinning law to grant degrees.
The UGC regulation amendment comes as the commission itself is set to be replaced by a different higher education regulator, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA). The VBSA is set to replace the University Grants Commission as well as top technical education regulator, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the teacher education council, National Council for Technical Education (NCTE). The VBSA Bill is currently being examined by the joint parliamentary committee.