UGC Advisory: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released an advisory with a clear warning to students, their parents, and public organizations not to join any unauthorized online degree programmes that run through illegitimate EdTech-university collaborations. At the same time, the higher education regulatory body has put 32 non-approved and fake universities that are functioning throughout the country under strict regulatory watch. Highlighting the absolute compliance to the academic standards of India, the UGC has clearly conveyed that the franchise and outsourcing of degrees or degree-granting authority to private EdTech firms is not permitted by any Indian regulation at present.
Any degree or diploma offered by such a commercial collaboration has no legal validity for pursuing further studies, job in the government sector, and professional certification. Although EdTech firms can provide the digital platform and technical support, the full responsibility of teaching, assessment, management of faculty members, and awarding degrees rests only with the approved Central/State/Deemed/Private universities. To safeguard students from fraudulent promotions and unapproved academic programmes, the UGC advises all students to check the institution's approval status on the website of the Distance Education Bureau (deb.ugc.ac.in).
UGC: 32 Unrecognised / Fake Universities
UGC has issued a revised list of 32 such self-styled and unauthorised institutions functioning in various states violating the provisions of UGC Act, 1956.
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State |
Prominent Unrecognised / Fake Institutions on Watchlist |
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Delhi |
Commercial University Ltd., United Nations University, Vocational University, ADR-Centric Juridical University |
|
Uttar Pradesh |
Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith, National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University |
|
West Bengal |
Indian Institute of Alternative Medicine, Institute of Alternative Medicine and Research |
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Maharashtra & Karnataka |
St. John’s University (Kishanattam), Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society |
|
Kerala & Other States |
St. John's University (Anchal), Raja Arabic University (Nagpur) |
How to Verify Degree Authenticity?
Before joining any online/distance/normal course, the student needs to verify the following credentials:
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Go to the UGC Distance Education Bureau website (deb.ugc.ac.in) to check whether the university is approved to offer Distance or Online Learning Program (ODL).
Make sure the institution is a recognized State/Central/Private/Deemed University according to Section 2(f) and 12(B) of UGC Act.
Make sure the EdTech company is only a service provider and not the degree awarding or academic content provider.
Verify the university on the Fake Universities List of UGC prior to paying the fees.
