Why India’s online skilling firms are chasing the university tag

India’s online skilling firms banked on co-branded courses for years, leveraging the credibility of legacy institutions. As the nation’s young population swells and stricter visa norms shut the gates overseas, some of them are chasing full university status.

Master’s Union and Scaler, among higher education platforms that promise to impart industry-ready skills outside the traditional degree system, are evaluating the acquisition of university licences in India, their founders said. PhysicsWallah is also looking to set up a technology, driven university in Andhra Pradesh.

According to government estimates, almost 50% of India's 1.4 billion population is below 25 years of age. Grand View Research forecasts the revenue of India's higher education market to nearly triple from $19.4 billion in 2023 to $54.4 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of 15.8%.

India presently has the largest population historically that could go for higher education, and policymakers are geared to pushing the gross enrolment ratio significantly higher over the next ten years, says Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner and national leader for education and skill development practice at KPMG. “There have never been so many people wanting to enter higher education in a single geography,” he said, calling the next 25–30 years a rare demand window for institutions willing to commit long term.

India’s higher education market is also entering a rare moment of churn. For years, aspirational Indian students looked overseas. That option is narrowing. Tighter visa norms and shrinking post-study work opportunities across the US, the UK, Canada and Australia are redirecting demand back home.

Campus calls

Online skilling surged during the 2020–21 edtech boom, only to fizzle as students returned to the classroom after the pandemic-induced lockdowns in 2022. Several started offering co-branded degrees and campus partnerships, with Physics Wallah, Simplilearn, and upGrad tying up with Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and private universities, Mint reported.

While these partnerships allowed them to grow without directly awarding degrees themselves, founders say independent skilling models often limit growth, especially in undergraduate programmes, where degree recognition matters the most.

Master’s Union recently applied for licensing for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees with the state education departments and the University Grants Commission (UGC), founder Pratham Mittal told Mint. “We always wanted to build a university status. Governments do not look favourably in many situations until and unless you are a licensed player.”

Licensing will help Master’s Union become part of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), and allow it to participate in youth festivals, he said.

The government policy and licensing frameworks mainly support higher education reform in India. They impact access to rankings, funding, research collaboration and curriculum standards, thus areas non-licensed players are mostly still denied, according to a recent PwCAssocham report.

Physics Wallah has also signed an MoU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to set up the University of Innovation (UoI).

UpGrad was the pioneer edtech company to set up a university in 2021, after getting approval under a Maharashtra state law and being recognized by the UGC. In 2025, it was accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

Scaler, too, is engaging with regulators and exploring formal accreditation routes, rather than relying on legacy university tie-ups.

“The partnership model works up to a point, but it also comes with limitations,” said Abhimanyu Sharma, co-founder and chief executive of Scaler. “Traditional universities often lack the governance structures and operational clarity that a venture-backed education company requires…”

The Scaler School of Technology, established in early 2024, received nearly 30,000 paid applications and over 2,00,000 registrations this year (2025) for its technology programmes, according to Sharma. The company plans to acquire a large campus for expansion and is evaluating a nearly 20-acre site.

Entry barriers

Under most state regulations, private universities are required to either own or hold long-term leases for 10 to 30 acres of land. These requirements deter smaller players.

“An independent university licence is a strategic option, but the immediate focus is on partnerships…” said Prateek Shukla, co-founder and CEO of Masai, which is focusing on building partnerships with top institutions in the country.

Ankit Agarwal, co-founder of Elevation Capital-backed Mesa School, said the limited need for formal degrees in the postgraduate segment has kept the company out of the university licensing race.

“A number of private universities were formed back in the day to fulfil the employment requirements of IT services companies,” he said. “Now, with the startup industry creating just as many opportunities, there is a need for new-age institutions to be formed.”

Not a free pass

The government’s stance has shifted. According to senior education experts, the UGC is actively opening the door to more private participation as it pulls back from setting up new public universities.

Policies under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 had the objective to totally transform higher education through the gradual discontinuation of the affiliating college model, giving more freedom to universities, permitting flexible entry and exit via credit banks, and encouraging multidisciplinary learning, research, and global collaborations.

Besides that, it had the broader aim of raising the gross enrolment ratio (GER) to 50% by 2035, which was only 28.4% as of 2021, 22.

But this is not a free pass.

Regulatory filters, from land requirements to accreditation and screening committees, have become sharper, reflecting a desire to let in capital and capacity without losing control of quality, said Ramaswamy of KPMG. “They want more players, but not everyone.”

While universities remain not-for-profit entities on paper, investors are increasingly backing the businesses around them, including operating platforms, marketing arms and service entities that effectively control campus economics. “A lot of money is being spent on higher education, even if it doesn’t always show up as a straight acquisition.”