India's Private Universities Fueled by Entrepreneurial Zeal
India's higher education landscape is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the country's burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem. With the backdrop of a rapidly changing global economy, aspiring Indian entrepreneurs are breaking away from traditional models of higher education to establish world-class institutions. This article explores the current state of private universities in India, specifically highlighting the increasing role of philanthropic organizations in addressing the gaps in the country's higher education system.
The resurgence of philanthropic private entrepreneurship in Indian higher education mirrors the spirit of nation-building exhibited during the country's founding years. Notably, prominent entrepreneurs have founded several universities focused on professional and scientific education, technology, and the liberal arts. These institutions are collectively governed, aiming to provide a world-class education and foster research and development in emerging fields.
While the experiments conducted in Indian higher education showcase a promising path for the future, several challenges still hinder the designation of these institutions as "world-class." Despite the emergence of many innovative models, the higher-education landscape is still primarily dominated by conventional specialist institutions that focus on engineering, medicine, management, and law. Moreover, the underlying regulatory structures have not been able to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand for higher education in the country.
Since its independence, India has expanded from 20 universities and 250,000 students in 1947 to more than 1,100 universities and over 41 million students in 2021. To address the demand for higher education, the government of India and state governments have pushed for liberalization and privatization in the 1990s, leading to an influx of for-profit colleges. However, the private sector has not consistently demonstrated positive differentiation, and regulatory measures have consequently been introduced to address the ensuing challenges. Nevertheless, some universities have found novel educational approaches and are gaining international recognition, competing head-to-head with well-established institutions.
This article concludes by examining some of these experimental universities through the lens of a few well-respected private institutions, highlighting their distinct models, and offering a perspective on the future of higher education in India. Even though the country's entrepreneurial ecosystem is currently being tested by economic headwinds, the ongoing experiments in the higher-education landscape showcase a promising path for a more vibrant future.
India's Higher Education History India's modern university system can be traced back to 1857, when the British established three universities in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai to educate Indians to serve the colonial administration. These universities were modeled on the University of London and focused on teaching English and the humanities. Subsequently, all other universities established in India closely mirrored these three institutions.
Since India's independence, the government has significantly invested in higher education, emphasizing technical excellence and intensely competitive institutions in management, medicine, and public policy. However, the expansion of higher-education institutions has not kept pace with the growing demand, and the student enrollment ratio is still relatively low compared to the country's demographic dividend of young people entering the workforce.
Private Universities in India Today, over three-quarters of India's higher-education institutions are privately owned, with the number growing annually. State governments fueled this expansion in the 1990s, hoping to improve the economy and their images by investing in higher education and offering land at concessional rates. Consequently, the private sector now operates over 31,000 colleges, accounting for over 70% of India's colleges. However, the rapid increase has led to concerns about the quality of education provided by these institutions, leading to regulatory measures to address the challenges.
While some private universities in India have not positively distinguished themselves, there are signs of progress. Many entrepreneurs who have prospered in an emerging and globalizing India have funded new universities through collective philanthropy to avoid any single family controlling an institution. These universities have employed innovative educational approaches and are gaining international recognition, competing head-to-head with well-established institutions.
Private Universities in India: Current Landscape and Future Prospects To understand the current landscape of private universities in India and their future prospects, we can examine the examples of the Indian School of Business, Ashoka University, Plaksha University, and Krea University. All four institutions have broken away from the traditional model of private universities in India and are collectively governed, with no single family having majority control.
The Indian School of Business (ISB) is a nonprofit business school founded in 2001 with the vision of creating a prestigious management institution in India on par with the best in the world. The ISB offers a one-year postgraduate program in management (PGP) that competes with traditional two-year MBAs in India, despite its unofficial status. The ISB has successfully established itself as one of the few management institutions from Asia, and the only one from India, that has consistently been featured in the top 50 global rankings of management education institutions.
Ashoka University, established in 2014 through collective philanthropy, is modeled on the American liberal arts education curriculum. It aims to provide a comprehensive education that encourages interdisciplinary learning and the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake. Plaksha University, established in 2021, reimagines engineering education using techniques inspired by the liberal arts, while Krea University, established in 2018, blends the liberal arts and the professions to enable interdisciplinary learning.
These four universities represent a new wave of private universities in India, driven by entrepreneurial zeal and collective philanthropy, that are challenging the traditional specialist-institution model. They have employed innovative educational approaches and are gaining international recognition, competing head-to-head with well-established institutions.
However, despite these promising developments, the traditional specialist-institution model still dominates