The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released new rules for awarding equivalence to foreign qualifications, with a 15-day processing duration that has aimed to put an end to the months-long wait endured by comeback students.
The "University Grants Commission (Recognition and Grant of Equivalence to Qualifications obtained from Foreign Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2025", which has been notified in the Gazette of India on Friday, lays out a uniform system for foreign degree recognition via an online portal. The regulations apply to all foreign degrees except professional courses like medicine, law, and architecture, which remain under their respective regulatory bodies. Degrees obtained through franchising arrangements will also not be recognised.
The new system replaces the century-old process handled exclusively by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) since its inception in 1925. More than 1.33 million Indian students are studying abroad for higher education as of August 2024, government data show. Though not all of them return to work in India, a significant number do. Information about the number of such students was not readily available.
The AIU has 1,064 member universities, including 19 offshore universities. On average, it issues 2,000 equivalence certificates per year. As per the guidelines, applicants need to apply online through UGC's specially created portal with the prescribed fee. A permanent committee will consider each case within 10 working days by considering: course length, credits (10% fluctuation acceptable), structure of the curriculum and the components of learning.
UGC chief M Jagadesh Kumar stated the action resolves a ‘long-standing issue’ of delay for foreign degree students in being absorbed into India's education sector or economy. "UGC has come up with a clear, technology-based system for recognition of foreign qualifications. Indian institutions need to give fair recognition to degrees obtained abroad if we need to attract foreign students", Kumar stated in a release.
Whether AIU will go on issuing equivalence certificates was not replied to by UGC officials. "It depends on government notification", says a top AIU official.
Former secretary-general of AIU Prof Furqan Qamar was apprehensive: Two bodies cannot issue equivalence certificates. I don't think UGC will be able to perform better than AIU and may realize the complications later.
Qamar further stated that independent organizations manage degree equivalence abroad: An independent body, World Education Services, manages equivalence certificates in America and Canada, and there are similar networks of countries in Europe.
Former UGC chairperson Sukhadeo Thorat, though, endorsed the move: Now, students will have better clarity while going abroad for study due to these regulations.
