通过州和州立公立大学扩大优质高等教育：政策简报

Suggested CitationNITI Aayog. (2025).Expanding Quality of Higher Education through States and State Public Universities. February, 2025. Copyright and DisclaimerCopyright@ NITI Aayog, 2025 Every care has been taken to provide correct and up to date information with references. However, NITIAayog shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever, including incidental or consequential loss ordamage, arising out of, or in connection with any use of or reliance on the information in this document. About the PhotographsPhotographs of architecturally diverse State Public Universities have been displayed on the following page. Quality and holistic education serves as the bedrock for the socio-economic development andgrowth of every nation. For India to unlock its full potential and become the global hub of talent andinnovation, our higher education and research ecosystem must adapt to the demands of an evolvingworld and be brought centrestage in the development dialogue of the nation.The National Education Central Universities and Institutes of National Importance are the flagship institutions of highereducation in India that excel in frontier areas of knowledge on national and international platforms.However, it is important to note that it is the 495 State Public Universities and their over 46,000affiliated institutions that account for 81% of the total student enrolment and hence play a vitalrole in ensuring access to higher education across the length and breadth of India. Technically, Over the last 75 years, the nationwide growth and expansion of SPUs has been primarily drivento increase access to affordable higher education, particularly in remote and underserved regions.This has been essential in meeting the rising demand for higher education and addressing regionalimbalances in educational access. Hence, SPUs serve as regional hubs for higher education, reaching Going forward, the role of SPUs will increase even further. By 2035, the NEP 2020 target isto double enrolment in our higher education institutions from 4.33 crores to nearly 9 crorestudents. Nearly 7 crore of these students will continue to study in SPUs. Hence, it is of utmostimportance that SPUs transition from focusing only on access to higher education to delivering The purpose of the report on ‘Expanding Quality Higher Education through States and StatePublic Universities’ is to provide an overview of the higher education sector in India, highlight thechallenges faced by SPUs, and recommend pragmatic interventions along with an implementationroadmap to address them.Extensive stakeholder consultations with Central and State Governmentofficers, vice chancellors and senior academicians of leading SPUs, and heads of State HigherEducation Councils have been undertaken to understand these challenges and explore policy 1Throughout the policy brief, SPUs have been frequently referred to as Leading SPUs and Aspirational SPUs.Leading SPUs are those which feature in the top 50 ranked SPUs in the NIRF Rankings 2024.AspirationalSPUs are those which do not feature in the top 50 ranked SPUs in NIRF Rankings 2024.Also, all recom- RECOMMENDATiONS: 1.QUALITY A.Improving Quality of Research Short-Term (0-2 Years) 1.Policy & Framework Development •Develop a draft National Research Policy framework in alignment with the AnusandhanNational Research Foundation (ANRF) outlining funding, collaboration, and performancemetrics.•Identify and establish Research Hubs in cluster of SPUs, based on core competencies ofidentified universities.•Setup/establish an industry/government/community outreach/engagement centre inevery SPU.•Establish Research Support Offices in SPUs.•Training and capacity building programmes to be conducted for faculty members toeffectively utilise the services of Research Support Offices.•SPUs to chart out an action plan in the Institutional Development Plan to offer andimplement performance-based incentives to the faculty for research. •Create curated list of high-quality journals in STEM and non-STEM areas. (UGC CARE •Develop and offer scholarships and fellowships for students and teachers from SPUs •Consolidatedinformation on available scholarships/fellowships from CentralGovernment (available on NSP Portal),State Governments, international institutions,other councils and agencies, and those given by individual universities to be provided ona single platform.•Implement student-faculty research pairing programmes in SPUs.•Establish researcher mentorship programmes in SPUs.•Establish Patent Cells in all SPUs to create awareness and for handholding.•Implement ‘single-window’ clearances for research and testing facilities for SPUs.•Designate Leading SPUs with an established track record in research and policy/projectevaluation as Research and Knowledge Partners for projects of the Central and StateGovernments. 2.Resource Allocation •Allocate earmarked grants for R&D activities in STEM and non-STEM areas in SPUsand higher educat