UGC reframes ‘deemed to be university’ draft regulations, in line with NEP 2020

Furthermore, deemed universities will be permitted to launch campuses abroad, with admissions based on exams administered by a government body.

“UGC has reframed the Institutions Deemed to be Universities Regulations, 2019 to make them in tune with the broader policies of higher education as contained in the NEP 2020,” UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said.

He further added that these regulations were notified to regulate, in an orderly manner, the process of declaration of institutions of academic excellence as deemed to be universities and to maintain the quality of higher education imparted by these institutions.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Friday made the draft public and invited comments on it.

The most notable aspects of these modified regulations are that they “shall implement the reservation policy in admissions/ recruitment, in accordance with the Constitution of India and the Act of Parliament in force” and “shall fix fee transparently keeping in mind non-profiteering/ non-commercial aspects.” They also “may provide fee concession/ scholarships or may allocate some seats to meritorious students belonging to socially and economically deprived groups of the society.”

In accordance with the UGC regulations, these universities are also permitted to offer online or distance learning courses.

The new regulations also stated that the UGC could recommend withdrawal of status if deficiencies were not corrected, such as universities that were assigned a NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) grade of less than “A” or that were ranked higher than 100 in the Universities category of the current NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) ranking.

For prospective deemed to be university, the regulations also mandated that “in the case of institutions not funded by the government, a corpus fund of ₹25 crore or as decided by the commission from time to time, shall be created and maintained in the name of the institution.”

(With inputs from PTI)