Page 42 - EW may 2026

Cover Story

INDIA’S BEST PRIVATE

AUTONOMOUS ASC COLLEGES

A mere 1,788 of the 53,000
undergraduate colleges
countrywide which have
cleared the stringent quality
norms prescribed by the
apex Delhi-based University
Grants Commission have
been conferred autonomy
by UGC in almost eight
decades

ndia’s 1,554 private autonomous
Arts, Science and Commerce
(ASC) colleges are a cut above the
Irest. Because these colleges have
been conferred autonomous status for MCC, Bengaluru’s Dr. Lekha George (centre left): excellent placement record
having cleared the stringent quality
norms prescribed by the apex Delhi- scheduled castes & tribes and OBCs). For mysterious reasons, even
based University Grants Commission Moreover, they can independently set though they have the required top
(UGC). Under s.3 of the University tuition fees. They can also constitute NAAC rating, UGC has declined to
Grants Commission Act, 1956, UGC their own academic councils, board of confer autonomy upon them, and they
has discretionary power to confer studies and finance committees, and remain tied to the apron strings of
academic and administrative auton- have “complete administrative au- Delhi University. It’s noteworthy that
omy on higher education institutions tonomy and the privilege of appoint- in this year’s EW India Higher Educa-
(HEIs) awarded top A grading by the ing their own administrative staff and tion Rankings 2026-27, the total score
National Assessment & Accreditation teaching faculty including principal”. awarded to the private non-autono-
Council of India (NAAC), and which These are important freedoms and mous Shri Ram College of Commerce,
in the commission’s opinion have an set graduates a cut above graduates Delhi is comfortably higher than the
excellent track record of higher edu- of non-autonomous colleges. private autonomous Mount Carmel
cation delivery. Accordingly, a mere However, while autonomous sta- College, Bengaluru.
1,788 of the 53,000 undergraduate tus is a definitive marker of superior In view of the glaring contradic-
colleges countrywide have been con- quality higher education provision, tions within the country’s higher edu-
ferred autonomy by UGC in almost there are exceptions to the rule. For cation system, the Viksit Bharat Shik-
eight decades. instance, the top-ranked St. Stephen’s sha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, tabled in
Unlike non-autonomous colleges College, Delhi and several colleges af- Parliament last December, proposes
which are fully supervised by their filiated with Delhi University although a “graded autonomy” framework, en-
affiliating universities, autonomous classified as non-autonomous, enjoy abling high-performing higher edu-
colleges have the freedom to design excellent reputation on a par with cation institutions (HEIs) to acquire
their own syllabuses and curricula, in- best autonomous colleges for provid- greater academic, administrative,
troduce new study programmes, con- ing high-quality undergrad education. and financial independence based on
duct examinations and prescribe rules They are highly prized with their ad- NAAC accreditation. It also proposes
for admission in consonance with gov- mission cut-offs hitting 98-100 per- the dismantling of the affiliated col-
ernment quotas reservation policy (for cent. lege model, encouraging HEIs to “be-

42 EDUCATIONWORLD MAY 2026