The University Grants Commission (UGC) said on Friday that higher education institutions nationwide would now be able to add up to 25% extra seats for international students and must implement a transparent admissions procedure for them. Last month, the draft of “Guidelines for Admission and Supernumerary Seats of International Students in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes in Higher Educational Institutions in India” was made available to the public for comment. “Over and beyond their total sanctioned enrolment for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, HEIs may generate up to 25% of supernumerary seats for overseas students.”
According to the guidelines, “the decision regarding supernumerary seats shall be made by the concerned higher educational institutions in accordance with the specific directives and regulations issued by the regulatory bodies taking into consideration the infrastructure, faculty, and other requirements.”
“International students may be accepted by Indian HEIs depending on their entry qualification equivalents. The UGC, any other organisation it has approved for this purpose, or the relevant national regulatory agencies are required to determine the equivalence. HEIs may use an open admissions procedure to accept overseas students, “The rules stated. UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar explained the admission requirements for accepting foreign students and added the universities will be able to pick their admission policies. “Universities are free to decide how they will admit international students. There is no such entrance exam required by UGC to admit international students “Kumar said to PTI.
The UGC has made it clear that international students who are enrolled in exchange programmes, through memorandums of understanding (MoU) between institutions, or who are sponsored by the governments of India and other nations will not be included in the 25 percent of the supernumerary seats for international students “Wherever possible, efforts should be made to distribute these 25 percent seats among all departments, schools, centres, or other academic units of the higher education institution, depending on the availability of infrastructure and qualified faculty. In both undergraduate and graduate programmes, the extra seats will only be available to overseas students.” A seat in the supernumerary category that is still open will only be given to an overseas student.
International students in this context shall be defined as the ones who shall possess a foreign passport,” the guidelines read.
The establishment of extra seats for international students should be formalised with the consent of the statutory body or bodies of the HEIs in accordance with the guidelines and regulations that are periodically issued by the regulatory bodies. “Supernumerary seats for PhD courses shall be governed by the regulations made available by the UGC from time to time in this regard,” states the UGC. “Supernumerary seats in professional and technical institutes shall be governed by the respective statutory bodies. An “Office for International Students” is required at all HEIs. It will keep and make available on its website year-specific information about the international students enrolled in the HEI, such as country, number, program/subject, duration, etc.
“All details regarding number of seats available for international students in each programme, fee prescribed for the same, admission process, eligibility conditions etc. shall be made available on the website of the HEI,” the guidelines read.
