A University is an institution of higher and usually tertiary education and research, which also awards academic degrees for various courses within the ambit of its territory and Law. University is a Latin word meaning ‘a community of teachers and scholars”. Usually most of the post graduate degrees and post doctoral courses in India are taught in the universities or monitored by the universities. Thus the higher education system in India apart from colleges includes both private and Government universities. Government universities are financially supported by the Government of India and the state governments. Central Universities in India are established by an act of the parliament and are under the purview of Department of Higher Education in India. University Grants Commission is the regulatory body for all universities in India. Private universities have to manage their own funds.
Universities in India : Admission, Information and Notification Alerts
There are 911 universities in India; 48 are Central Universities and 399 are State Universities. 338 are State Private Universities and 126 are Deemed to be Universities. Deemed University is a status of autonomy granted to high performing institutes and departments of various universities in India. It is granted by the University Grants Commission. A deemed university is basically an institute which has been upgraded due to facilities available for a specific course in the institute and has better ability to deliver innovation and the program which may attract more employment. A government as well as a private institute can be a deemed university. Government Universities in India have executive responsibilities, which includes monitoring private universities, colleges, quality and audit, conducting of exams and awarding degrees, conducting and overseeing research activities, framing rules and regulations and acting as liaison between government educational bodies. Deemed universities are also given responsibilities of setting up syllabus, conducting exams and awarding degrees. All Universities impart Higher Education and conduct research activities. Then there are specialized universities which take care of streams like Medical, Engineering, Business studies and Law. Usually these are Government in nature and may be central or state level.
Usually studying in Universities is considered as a privilege; e.g. Delhi University etc. The Universities have huge campuses and lot of facilities for the students. The fees structure depends on the course as well the nature of University, whether private or Government. A few Universities also run programs in collaboration with other universities of the world. IGNOU offers courses specialized for Distance Learning. Baba Farid University is a specialized university taking care of Medical Sciences courses in Punjab. Indian Institute of Bangalore specializes in Science subjects. IITs specialized in engineering and technical courses and University of Calcutta for various subject.
