Universities in India - a total of 850 as of April 2018 as per U.G.C. - provide the highest level of education. Out of these universities, 384 are State Universities, 123 are deemed-to-be universities, 47 Central universities and 296 are private universities. Rajasthan has the highest number of Universities, totalling 70 in number and Mizoram has the least number of universities, totalling 2 in number as of April, 2018. The highest level of education translates into educational programs leading to grant of Masters and Doctorate Degrees like Ph.D. But Indian Universities are not limited to providing just the above-mentioned programs, they also offer undergraduate programs.
Most of the Universities in India are indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and set up by the Central and the State Governments. Because of their establishing authorities, they are respectively termed as ‘Central Universities’ and ‘State Universities’.
Apart from these types of Universities, there are other Universities which are – i) Private Universities ii) Deemed Universities iii) Open Universities iv) Agricultural Universities and National Institutes of Importance - IIT's and IIM's.
Universities in India are monitored under various authorities some of which are - AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council), UGC (University of Grants Commission) and AIU (Association of Indian Universities). These agencies are involved in monitoring different aspects of a University. The only grant-giving agency in India is, University of Grants Commission (UGC). It is also vested with the responsibility of maintaining coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education.
In a step to take the Universities to the next level, there are plans for establishing Navratna Universities. These are based on the famous Ivy League Institutions. The proposed Universities are slated to be totally autonomous, free from government control with generous financial support and freedom in accessing external funding.
Banaras Hindu University | University of Delhi | IGNOU | JNU | the University of Pune | University of Mumbai | Osmania University
