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Yale University Harvard University Oxford University

Cambridge University University of Melbourne

McGill University

Top-ranked Anglosphere universities: unlikely contenders

pointed shall be at par with the main campus of the coun- sity Rankings 2024). None of the Top 100 FHEIs of the UK,
try of origin” and the FHEI “shall ensure that the foreign US or Canada — the favourite foreign study destinations
faculty appointed to teach at the Indian campus shall stay of Indian students — has expressed interest. Now with the
at the campus in India for a reasonable period” and that stringent UGC regulations notified, any resolution to plant
licensed FHEIs “shall not offer any such programme of their flags in India is likely to run awry.
study which jeopardises the national interest of India or Commenting on the new UGC regulations, public intel-
standards of higher education in India” or are “contrary to lectual Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an alum of the blue-
the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the chip Oxford (UK) and Princeton (US) universities and for-
State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, mer president of the Delhi-based Centre for Public Policy
decency, or morality”. Another provision states the FHEIs Research, Delhi, says “if we think universities can flourish
need prior approval of UGC before starting any new pro- without academic freedom, we have our heads in the sand”.
gramme. Moreover, the commission has awarded itself the According to Mehta, the government’s higher education re-
power to visit FHEI campuses to “examine its operations forms are based on several false premises.
to ascertain the infrastructure, academic programmes and Commenting on s.6 of the UGC regulations which require
overall quality and suitability”. (see box p.84) FHEIs to ensure qualifications of the faculty posted in India
The presumption of UGC (and BJP government at the will be on a par with faculty in the parent institution, Mehta
Centre) seems to be that FHEIs including top-ranked uni- says that the word “qualification” is open to interpretation.
versities are desperate to establish campuses in India and “If it simply means formal equivalence of qualifications (Ph
will be ready to comply with stifling discretionary regula- D from a good institution, etc.), then most institutions are
tions drawn up by the educracy. However, in the past 12 on a par. But if it means faculty who are exceptional (which
months since the BJP government at the Centre announced is what the top institutions claim they have), there is no
— decision to allow FHEIs into India and UGC released cost advantage to moving to India. Land and capital costs
draft regulations for public feedback, only two foreign are not cheap here. But if you are going to define equiva-
universities have agreed to establish campuses in India — lence as something close to those who have been through
Deakin and Wollongong universities (both Australian and the tenure processes of top-ranked universities, they have
ranked #233 and #162 respectively in the QS World Univer- no economic or lifestyle incentives to spend a lot of time in

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