UGC Issues Notice to 54 State Private Universities for Non-Compliance with Disclosure Norms

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued official notices to 54 State Private Universities who have not submitted information as per Section 13 of the UGC Act, 1956, or have not posted information on their official websites that is required as a mandatory Public Self-Disclosure provision- a significant move towards transparency in higher education. This action affects universities in India and indicates the desire of the UGC to more tightly control accountability and provide students with easy access to the information about the institution.

What Has Happened?

Recently, UGC issued a circular to name 54 uncompliant private universities with regard to disclosure standards. These policies require universities to have verified data on their homepages, meaning that no one requires a login or an account to view it. These universities have failed to provide statutory documentation as required or have not uploaded public disclosures after being reminded several times.

So Why Is Disclosure So Important?

Public Self-Disclosure means that students, parents and other interested parties are sure to verify the legal standing, regulatory compliance and minimum qualifications of a university before they make a choice. The UGC required universities to place on record attested documents of course approvals, faculty information, fee structure and infrastructure information so that it could be reviewed easily.

Action Taken and Implications

UGC has warned these defaulted universities to correct their actions promptly and comply with the norms set by UGC. Failure to comply may lead to more drastic measures as proposed by regulators such as public naming and risks of reviewing university status. Eight Gujarat universities such as the Gandhinagar University, JG University, and many others are included in this list, as the regulatory scrutiny is being used throughout the state. 

Full List of Defaulted Universities

The list contains the institutions of different states and may be verified by any person on the official UGC site. The UGC notice is a reminder to all of the private universities to have up to date and publicly accessible web sites containing all the information required to be displayed on their web sites but linked directly to the homepage.  

Here is the official list: https://www.ugc.gov.in/pdfnews/4645721_Defaulting-State-Private-Universities.pdf 

Before students apply to the university, they must always be able to cross-verify university information with the UGC website. The awareness of stakeholders is vital because transparency standards preserve the interests of students as well as institutional credibility in the education sector.

UGC’s crackdown on non-compliant universities provides a good precedent of how governance of higher education should be conducted in the future, trying to be more transparent and providing the most important information to everyone with ease.