No foreign university allowed to offer courses under franchise arrangement: UGC

NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has warned students not to take admission in courses offered by universities in collaboration with foreign universities that are not recognised by the commission.

It said that all institutes should offer courses under the UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, and University Grants Commission (Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Education Institutions to offer Twinning Programme, Joint Degree, Dual Degree Programmes) Regulations, 2022, only after the approval of the commission.

According to these two regulations, no foreign universities will be allowed to offer programmes under any franchise arrangement. The clarification comes after the UGC observed that the several higher education institutions (HEIs) and colleges have entered into collaborative agreements with foreign-based educational institutions not recognized by the Commission and have been facilitating the issuance of degrees to the students enrolled in those institutions.

Further, it said that some EdTech companies are advertising in newspapers, social media and television offering online degree and diploma programmes in association with some foreign universities. “Such a franchisee arrangement is not permissible and any such programme/degree shall not have UGC recognition,” it said.

It also said action will be taken against all the defaulting EdTech companies as well as the HEls under applicable laws and regulations.

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As per the UGC regulations on foreign universities setting up campuses in India, the commission has allowed only institutes that are in the top 500 in global rankings to set up campuses across India.

On the other hand, the dual-degree guidelines state that a student will be allowed to pursue two full-time programmes at the same university or from different universities simultaneously. The student will have to spend a minimum of one semester in each of the collaborating institutions during the study programme.