Summary of UGC’s draft Regulations on setting up of campuses of Foreign Universities in India, as well as issues that require further clarity from UGC.
- Regulation of Foreign universities/institutions conducting undergraduate, postgraduate, Phd, Post Doc. programmes in India.
- Open to, top universities which are ‘recognised’ in the country of origin.
- Approval of UGC for setting up campuses mandatory.
- Quality of education to be at par with that of main campus.
- Programmes can’t be offered in on-line mode.
- Subject to quality and assurance audit by UGC.
- Indian campus can’t act as Rep office of parent entity.
UGC needs to tie up the following loose ends:
- Stipulate the term for which the initial approval lasts
- elaborate on concept of “duly recognised” and quality assurance from a “recognised body”
- flesh out the approval criteria so that the discretion for approval is not open ended
- clarify if the Indian campus can be set up by an incorporated entity
- clarify on fee collection by parent entity
- FEMA 1999 will have to be amended
This update is authored by Shivpriya Nanda, Partner – Corporate Practice.