The Institutions of Eminence are proposed to have greater autonomy compared to other higher education institutions.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) will start inviting applications this week from higher education institutions that are keen to enter the top 100 of reputed global rankings with the government’s assistance. The application window, Higher Education Secretary K K Sharma said on Tuesday, will remain open for three months. Once this deadline expires, an empowered committee will vet all entries and finalise names of 20 institutions, by March next year, to be declared as ‘Institutions of Eminence’.
The Institutions of Eminence are proposed to have greater autonomy compared to other higher education institutions. For instance, they will be free to decide their fee for domestic and foreign students and have a flexible course duration and structure. Their academic collaborations with foreign institutions will be exempt from approvals of government or UGC except institutions based in MEA and MHA’s list of negative countries.
Once identified, the target for ‘Institutions for Eminence’ would be to break into the top 500 bracket in one internationally reputed ranking framework in 10 years and come up in the top 100 over time.
