Higher Education Sector In India: Bird's-Eye View

In a continuation, the series looks at key regulators that grant access and continuity to higher education institutions in India

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Background

We have, in an earlier edition, looked at some noteworthy considerations when one is interested in establishing a K-21 school. In the current piece, we speak about the key regulators who grant access and continuity to the higher education institutions in the country. But owing to a series of significant developments in the legal regime in the sector, we also look into the consequent changes that are coming about.

Setting up an Institution of Higher Education

Higher education in the Indian context implies the stages of education that a candidate/student would undergo after successfully completing his K-12 education, i.e., school. Depending on the stream and level of education, there is a multitude of regulators that could have jurisdiction over an educational institution. The key regulators, however, continue to be the University Grants Commission (“UGC”) and the All India Council for Technical Education (“AICTE”). There are other regulators as well for specialized education, like the Bar Council of India and the Medical Council of India.

For the purposes of this article, we will exclude institutes of vocational training. Although the AICTE has a role to play in this as well, vocational training is substantially governed by a separate regulator, being the National Council on Vocational Training.

The AICTE