Comparison of Private Universities in India based on NIRF Ranking and Fee Charging Strategies

Abstract

The need of additional universities in Indian higher education system to provide highereducation to all eligible population of the country and the success of private university modelin the USA tempted the Indian government to give permission to establish PrivateUniversities in the country. Accordingly, based on section 22 of UGC act, the Indiangovernment has allowed the state governments to establish private universities in therespective states. Presently there are 264 private universities in the country spread over 22states. Due to non-availability of any financial support from the state and centralgovernments, private universities are trying to sustain through their only strategy of servicedifferentiation through 21st century curriculum and industry integrated programme design. Inthis paper, we have studied and compared some of the private universities in India in termsof their infrastructure, faculties, variety of courses, and fee structure of identified courses.We have also studied the performance scores given by NIRF, MHRD, Govt. of India forvarious criterions like Teaching, Learning & Resources, Research and Professional Practice,Graduation Outcomes, Outreach and Inclusivity, Public Perception. Based on the annual feecharged by the private universities established before 2010, we have identified three types ofstrategies which include low-cost – low quality, high-fee – high-quality, and nominal-fee –high quality strategies and analysed them based on the philosophy and background of suchuniversities in general. We have also identified other innovative strategies offered by manyprivate universities, in general, to differentiate themselves from publicly funded universities.The paper also contains some recommendations based on the observations to improve thequality, relevancy, and effectiveness of educational services and research contributions ofprivate universities.