UGC to Add 25% Supernumerary Seats for Foreign Students in UG and PG Programs

UGC: Universities and HEIs will now permit up to 25% supernumerary seats for international students in their UG and PG programs. Chairman Jagadesh Kumar emphasizes how there will be no entrance test for these admissions. He adds that the UGC’s meeting for ‘internationalization of UG and PG programs in India’ passed the grant last week.

Essentially, the seats are conclusive of the sanction of total strength. HEIs will have the liberty to take decisions regarding these seats in adherence to the guidelines and regulations published by the regulatory bodies regarding the infrastructure, faculty and other requirements. Likewise, Indian HEIs can admit students based on their specific requirements regarding entry qualifications. Although, the UGC or its wings will ascertain these requirements. Institutes will have to sketch out transparent admission procedures for international students.

Also Read: UGC’s Proposal to Merge NEET and JEE into CUET

UGC Adds 25% Extra Seats

The supernumerary seats for international students will exclude international students under exchange programs and through Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Institutions/Governments and other countries. The HEI’s will have to adhere to the no-entrance test process for these students critically. Therefore, these seats will solely be for international students in UG and PG programs without attachments. HEI’s cannot allocate empty seats in this category to anyone other than international students.

Additionally, these seats will be under the statutory bodies, and the HEI’s must be transparent in laying out the undertakings to the commission regarding course fees, admission process, eligibility etc. Similarly, these details should be available on the HEIs websites.

In 2021, around 23,439 international students entered India. Unfortunately, these numbers were much higher in pre-pandemic years. Earlier in 2019, India saw an entry rate of 75,000 international students. UGC highlighted that the Internationalization of higher education is an important part of the National Education Policy 2020. Hence, the integration of international and intercultural dimensions is crucial. Furthermore, a huge funding pool and academics are growing to attract international students. Therefore, HEI’s too, have shaken hands in this endeavour to increase international outreach.

Objective

Critically, these new UGC guidelines will facilitate a smooth and straightforward admission of international students to HEIs in India. Furthermore, it will shape a favourable environment for attracting international students. The supernumerary seats will also make India a desirable destination for International students in higher education.

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