Education India, Colleges, Universities, Courses, Exams, Schools
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Private Universities in India are those which are by and large, self financed and as such managed by private groups. However, some universities do receive public funding. UGC defines Private University as “A university duly established through a State / Central Act by a sponsoring body viz. a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, or any other corresponding law for the time being in force in a State or a Public Trust or a Company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.” To put in other words and bit more, “A private university in India is set up by funding from large corporate entities and educationists who are passionate about education”. Further expenditures are additionally covered through endowments and research grants. Pvt. Universities in India are money making machines courtesy, student fees which is higher as compared to non-private universities in India. At the same time, establishing a private university in India generally requires a period of 3-4 years owing to paperwork, legislations, infrastructure and other pre-requisites. Certain universities that are private in India also receive funding from donations, projects, advisory services and funds from government but only to those which have excelled. But providing quality education should have equal priority to that of profit making from these. Pvt. Universities in India were not as common as they are today. As per one report - Pre-2005, there were only 20 private universities and by 2011 there were 107 (compiled by management consultancy group Parthenon). That sums up roughly around 17 universities or so per year. And as of December 2015, there are 227 private universities in India as per U.G.C. Majority of State Private Universities are located in only 18 Indian states. Rajasthan is one state where the most private universities are located, 41 in all. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana do not have any Private universities.
A private university in India however cannot run without the approval of University Grants Commission (UGC) which is a governmental regulatory and funding body for various academic institutions in India. UGC recognized private universities have to follow the rules and regulations prescribed by UGC. The recognition requires renewal from time to time. These regulations are officially known as “UGC (Establishment and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003”. These regulations are subject to change and specify admissions, fees, service rules for teachers and reservation policies of the state or Centre. The UGC regulations brought in 2003 specified that “Each private university shall be established by a separate State Act” and shall “Operate ordinarily within the boundary of the state” though in exceptional cases additional campuses can be allowed. Setting up a private university in India is no easy task. By 2011, new rules to setup a private university came up which allowed the establishment of private universities through Acts of Parliament as well. Thus, Private universities can be established either by an Act of Parliament or by a State legislation under the new regulations for private varsities finalised by the UGC. This was done to encourage participation of private organisations to set up national universities. It has also been done to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education in India. It is 12.4% (as of 2011) as compared to the global average of 23%. The Government has set an ambitious target of achieving a GER of 30% by 2020. Private participation has been also encouraged as existent public expenditure on higher education is not sufficient.
