Opportunities and Challenges for Private Universities in India

A State Private University is established through a State/Central Act by a sponsoring body viz., a society registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, or any other corresponding law for the time being in force in a State or a Public Trust or a Company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. In a country like India, where higher education is largely inaccessible and unaffordable to a substantial chunk of youngsters, the possibilities that open up before a private university is enormous. While at the same time, it is supposed to provide quality education and beat the competitors, resource constraints and establishing brand image looms large as detriments. In this paper we have looked into the challenges and opportunities of private Universities for imparting Higher Education in terms of Establishment, Admission, Designing courses and Curriculum, Innovations in teaching and learning processes, Research and development, Industry and external collaborations, Usage of ICT, Student support and Progression, Expansion to global market, Governance, Leadership and Management, Innovations and Best practices etc. The Advantages, Benefits, Constraints, and Disadvantages of Private Universities for its stakeholders like students, faculty members, parents, industries and society are also discussed. The opportunities and challenges of National Institutional Ranking framework under stated criteria are analyzed.