Higher Education

University Grants Commission: A statutory organisation established by an Act of Parliament in 1956 for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education. It also serves as a coordinating body between the Union and state governments and higher education institutions.

Besides providing grants to universities and colleges, it also tells the Centre and state governments what steps to be taken for the development of higher education. Universities are classified into four types depending on the manner in which they were set up. These are central universities, state universities, deemed universities and private universities.

Central University: Set up by an act of Parliament. There are 20 central universities in the country. The President of India is a visitor at all such universities, with a few exceptions. The University Grants Commission (UGC) is the agency that provides funding for maintenance and development of these universities.

Of the 20 central universities, the Indira Gandhi Open University and Central Agricultural University, Imphal, are not funded by the UGC, but are assisted by the HRD Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture, respectively.

The University of Delhi, Allahabad University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Aligarh Muslim University are among the central universities.

State university: Set up or recognised by an act of the state legislature. There are 215 state universities in the country. Three of the country's oldest institutions of higher learning, University of Calcutta, University of Madras, and University of Mumbai are state universities. State governments are responsible for establishment of state universities and provide plan grants for their development and non-plan grants for their maintenance. The UGC makes budgetary plan allocation for 113 state universities.

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