Challenges and
Concerns over the Entry of Overseas Education Institutions in India
Introduction: The Promise and the Paradox
India’s higher education sector is one of the largest in the world, with
over 1,100 universities and more than 45,000 colleges serving millions of
students across urban and rural landscapes. It is vast, diverse, and ambitious,
reflecting the aspirations of a young nation where education is not merely a
stepping stone to employment but also a pathway to social mobility and national
development. Against this backdrop, the Government of India’s decision to allow
overseas universities to establish campuses in India is being hailed by some as
a “progressive” and “visionary” move. However, beneath the rhetoric of
globalisation and world-class education lies a series of concerns that cannot
be ignored.
This move, if implemented uncritically, risks
creating an elitist and exclusionary education model that benefits only the
wealthy, marginalises the poor, and drains India’s intellectual and financial
resources. The promise of global institutions in India appears enticing, but
the reality may be one of increased inequality, diminished autonomy, and
further erosion of the inclusivity that higher education in India has long
aspired to achieve.
Entry of Foreign Universities: Status, Networks, and Global Aspirations
Every year, between eight to ten lakh Indian students leave the country to
pursue education abroad. Their motivations extend far beyond the classroom. For
many, it is the lure of global exposure: experiencing life in another culture,
building international networks, and accessing professional markets with higher
wages and better job security. For others, foreign education is a stepping
stone to immigration opportunities, offering the possibility of permanent
residency or citizenship in developed nations.
Thus, while foreign campuses in India may replicate
some academic curricula, they cannot reproduce the broader package that
motivates Indian students to go abroad. Studying in an Indian city at an
American or European university outpost will not offer the same cultural
immersion, professional environment, or immigration prospects. Instead, these
campuses will likely serve a narrow demographic: the Indian elite who can
afford high fees but prefer to stay closer to home. This creates a system where
education becomes less about knowledge and more about status signaling, further
dividing students along lines of class and wealth.
The Shiny Promise of Globalized Education
India’s education headlines are full of opportunity and optimism.
Prestigious institutions announce new programmes—BIMTECH’s Postgraduate Diploma
in Management, IIT Jodhpur’s M.Tech in Sustainable Energy, IIITDM Kurnool’s
Ph.D. in Electronics and Communication Engineering. Globally, scholarships such
as Canada’s Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Australia’s Destination Australia
Scholarship, and Ireland’s International Education Scholarships entice Indian
students toward international platforms of learning. The steady rollout of GATE
2026 signals the government’s projection of India as a research powerhouse.
At first glance, this paints a picture of a vibrant
knowledge ecosystem: world-class research, global scholarships, international
collaborations, and a government eager to rebrand India as an “education hub.”
But beneath the glossy headlines lies a disturbing truth. These opportunities
are not designed for all Indians—they are structured for the privileged few.
The rural poor, Dalit, Adivasi, and minority students—the real backbone of
India’s demographic—find themselves excluded, marginalized, and silenced.
The Economics of Exclusion: Who Can Afford Foreign Campuses?
India’s embrace of foreign universities is framed as progress, yet it risks
creating deeper inequality. High costs, exclusionary politics, and profit
repatriation threaten to erode public education, turning learning into a
privilege for the few rather than a right for all.
Foreign Universities and the Two-Tier Trap: Foreign universities are unlikely
to align with India’s cost-sensitive education system. Most global institutions
operate on high-cost models, charging tuition far beyond what Indian public
universities require. For example, while an engineering degree at a government
college can cost under ₹1 lakh annually, a foreign campus may demand ten to
twenty times more. Such disparities will restrict access largely to affluent
families, excluding middle-class and marginalized students. The result is
predictable: a stratified system where wealthy students attend foreign-branded
institutions while the poor remain confined to underfunded public universities.
Instead of narrowing inequity, overseas institutions will intensify it,
reinforcing higher education as an elite privilege rather than a universal
right.
The
Politics of Exclusion and Resource Drain: The embrace of
foreign universities is less reform than political strategy, reflecting the
Modi government’s larger agenda of privatization and corporatization. For
years, private lobbies have pushed for policies that convert education into a
multi-billion-dollar market. Glossy rhetoric about “world-class campuses” masks
the deliberate weakening of public institutions through closures, underfunding,
and neglect. In this model, education becomes an investment for those who can
pay, not a constitutional right. Poor students from rural and tribal belts are
invisible casualties of this exclusionary framework.
Equally
troubling is the financial design: while Indian universities reinvest
in research, faculty, and infrastructure, foreign campuses will likely
repatriate profits to their home countries. Tuition paid by Indian students
will fuel foreign economies, creating a steady outflow of resources. This
financial drain echoes the intellectual brain drain already afflicting India.
Instead of building capacity within, India risks becoming a profitable
marketplace for global universities—serving their interests more than its own.
Displacement of Indian Institutions: Branding and Competition
India’s higher education sector is already diverse, with elite institutions
like IITs, IIMs, and AIIMS standing alongside smaller state universities and
rural colleges. The entry of foreign universities risks destabilising this
balance. With their global brand power and prestige, foreign institutions could
easily attract the best students and faculty, leaving smaller and lesser-known
Indian universities struggling to stay relevant.
Such displacement would create a concentration of
talent in expensive foreign campuses, further hollowing out India’s own
institutions. This could lead to long-term damage: a system where Indian
universities are perceived as “second-class” compared to their foreign
counterparts, even within our own borders.
The Myth of Quality: Will Foreign Campuses Deliver?
Proponents argue that foreign universities will raise academic standards
and foster healthy competition. However, India already has successful
international collaborations within IITs, IIMs, and other premier institutions.
Joint degree programmes, exchange initiatives, and global research projects are
already underway. The entry of standalone foreign campuses offers no guarantee
of better quality; it may simply replicate existing curricula at inflated
costs.
Moreover, the global prestige of these universities
often comes from their context—decades of research investment, strong
economies, and robust ecosystems. Transplanting them into India does not
automatically translate into the same outcomes. Without cultural immersion or
global mobility benefits, their appeal is primarily symbolic.
Social Inequality and Educational Elitism: Who Gets Left Behind?
At its core, the biggest challenge of foreign universities in India is
their potential to institutionalise inequality. Education is not only a tool
for personal growth but also a means of bridging social divides. The National
Education Policy (NEP 2020) aspires to inclusivity and equitable access, but
the entry of high-cost, elitist campuses risks undermining this vision.
Poor and marginalized students, especially those
from rural areas, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other disadvantaged
groups, will find themselves further excluded. Even if scholarships are
introduced, they are unlikely to match the scale of need. The system risks
creating an ‘educational caste system’ where foreign-branded degrees become a
ticket to elite jobs, while ordinary degrees push students into a saturated,
competitive job market with fewer opportunities.
Therefore, NEP 2020 is geared to promote not inclusivity
but exclusive elitism. This NEP
policy was marketed as a transformative roadmap for equitable access and
lifelong learning. Its proponents hailed it as revolutionary: flexible
curricula, internationalization of higher education, and the much-publicized
“Multiple Entry Exit System.” Yet, the devil lies in the details. While NEP
2020 promotes tie-ups with foreign universities and explicitly opens the door
for them to set up campuses in India, it remains ominously silent on how poor
students—already struggling with rising fees, inadequate facilities, and
shrinking scholarships—are to benefit.
By pitching foreign university entry as a badge of
modernization, the Modi government signals that global branding matters more
than grassroots equality. In reality, foreign campuses in India are unlikely to
provide affordable or accessible education. They will charge tuition fees far
higher than public institutions, operating in English and catering to urban
elites. For the vast majority of Indian students, the promise of a “global
classroom” will remain a mirage.
The Cultural Dimension: Whose Knowledge Counts?
Education is not just about skills; it is also about values, culture, and
social responsibility. Foreign campuses, driven by profit and global branding,
may prioritise marketable courses over socially relevant ones. Subjects
critical to India—such as rural development, public health, or indigenous
knowledge systems—may be sidelined in favour of high-demand global disciplines
like business, technology, or finance. These risks producing graduates who are
well-trained for global markets but disconnected from India’s socio-cultural
realities. In a country still grappling with poverty, inequality, and
ecological crises, education cannot be divorced from context. An imported model
may alienate students from their own society, weakening the role of education
as a force for nation-building.
Privatization
Disguised as Reform
The Modi government’s education reforms, marketed as “internationalization”
and “flexibility,” are in reality a push towards privatization and a retreat
from the state’s responsibility. The NEP, hailed as visionary, offers little
for inclusivity. Instead, it paves the way for commercialization, with no
serious provisions to strengthen government schools, expand public funding for
higher education, or address the systemic exclusion of Dalits, Adivasis,
minorities, and the poor.
A central feature of NEP 2020 is the opening of
India to foreign universities—long demanded by global corporations and domestic
private lobbies. These institutions will primarily serve the wealthy, further
marginalizing disadvantaged students. Their brand appeal will weaken smaller
public colleges, already struggling with funds and faculty shortages, deepening
inequity rather than bridging it. Far from a leap forward, this shift drains
resources and undermines the constitutional promise of education for all.
Simultaneously, BJP-ruled states are closing
thousands of government schools under the pretext of “mergers” and
“rationalization.” This forces children from marginalized communities to travel
long distances or abandon schooling altogether, eroding the right to free and
compulsory education guaranteed under Article 21A. These closures reflect a
deliberate weakening of public education, leaving space for private players,
including the Sangh’s Vidya Bharati schools. Alongside privatization, NEP
enables ideological control through “Indian values,” legitimizing saffronized
curricula that rewrite history and narrow pluralism.
While the government projects India as a “knowledge
hub” through flashy international tie-ups and scholarships for a select few,
the reality for most students is stark: soaring fees, shrinking fellowships,
and the expansion of self-financing colleges. Student protests across
campuses—from JNU to Allahabad University—signal resistance to this
commodification. When education is transformed from a right into a privilege,
democracy itself is eroded, leaving the majority excluded from the nation’s
future.
Impact of School Closures on Higher Education: The Silent Crisis
While the government trumpets global summits and scholarships abroad, it is
quietly shutting down the foundational tier of education at home. Across
BJP-ruled states, thousands of government schools have been merged. For rural
Dalit, tribal, and minority children, these schools were lifelines— now inaccessible due to distance. Many
students, therefore, withdraw from education. This so-called “rationalization” is
nothing less than abandonment. It violates the constitutional guarantee of free
and equitable education. Instead of investing in more teachers, libraries, and
laboratories for government schools, the state has chosen to dismantle them,
creating a parallel system: one for the privileged, another for the
marginalized.
Spectacle over Substance
Even as government schools are shuttered, elite institutions bask in global
applause. IISc Bengaluru’s breakthroughs in AI-driven protein design and Indian
students’ victories at competitions like iGEM and Microsoft’s Imagine Cup are
held up as evidence of India’s “knowledge superpower” status. But who really
benefits? These achievements emerge from a narrow band of well-funded,
well-networked students. For millions who lack even electricity, let alone
laboratories, such triumphs are stories from another planet.
Cultural and academic events like the Indo-French
Education Summit or the International Student Film Festival in Hyderabad
showcase creativity and collaboration. Yet without meaningful investment in
public education, they risk becoming elite spectacles—stage sets of privilege
masquerading as progress.
Alternatives to Foreign Campuses: Building an Inclusive Model
India does not need foreign universities to deliver quality education. It
needs political will to strengthen its own institutions. If the goal is to
improve India’s higher education ecosystem, there are better, more inclusive
alternatives than inviting foreign universities. A truly inclusive vision
requires:
1.
Strengthening Indian Universities: The foremost
priority must be to increase funding for public universities, expand
infrastructure, and invest in faculty development. Indian institutions can be
world-class if given the resources.
Robust Public
Investment: Expanding
scholarships, upgrading state universities, and ensuring equitable distribution
of resources across rural and urban India.
Grassroots
Infrastructure: Investing in government schools, especially in
marginalized areas, with teachers, libraries, labs, and safe transport.
2.
Encouraging Global Collaborations, not Colonies: Encouraging
faculty exchanges, joint research, and virtual learning platforms without
ceding sovereignty to foreign campuses. Instead of standalone campuses, joint
research projects, faculty exchange programmes, and integrated curricula with
global universities can bring international exposure without high costs.
3.
Technology and Virtual Learning: Online lectures,
international webinars, and virtual exchange programmes can connect Indian
students with global faculty, democratising access to world-class education.
4.
Scholarships and Mobility Support: Expanding
government scholarships for study abroad can allow talented but underprivileged
students to access international opportunities without creating domestic
exclusion.
5.
Equity at the Core: Centering policy
on Dalit, Adivasi, tribal, and minority students, not just the urban elite.
6.
Localised Research and Innovation: Strengthening
research ecosystems in Indian universities can help address India’s unique
challenges—climate resilience, rural healthcare, renewable energy—while
producing knowledge relevant to our society.
7.
Strengthening Regional Languages: Enabling
learning in mother tongues to expand access and bridge divides.
Conclusion: Toward Equality – Education as a Right, not a Marketplace
India’s education system stands at a
critical turning point. One vision upholds education as a public good, rooted
in equity, justice, and empowerment. The other, dangerously enticing, reduces
it to a commodity—privatized, globalized, and reserved for the privileged. The
Modi government, by championing foreign universities and private lobbies under
the guise of “progress,” has embraced the latter. Behind the gloss of
international tie-ups lies a harsher reality: collapsing government schools,
teacher shortages, and millions of poor and marginalized children left behind.
When education becomes a passport only for the wealthy, India risks dividing
itself into two nations—one globalized and privileged, the other silenced and
abandoned.
Though NEP 2020 is
presented as reform, its underlying push for privatization betrays the
democratic promise of education for all. Instead of investing in public
schools, strengthening regional universities, and expanding scholarships, the
government has chosen optics over substance and corporate branding over
grassroots empowerment. The entry of overseas universities may be packaged as
progress, but it threatens to deepen inequality. Education is not a marketplace
but a right, a responsibility, and the soul of India’s constitutional vision.
Unless citizens demand another path, NEP will be remembered not as reform, but
as betrayal.
