Which institutes can apply for the status?
The educational institutes selected, need to be a good mix of Central Universities as well as Arts, Management and Technical Institutes. To get the status, they should be among:
1. Top 50 in the National lnstitution Ranking Framework in their category
2. Top 500 in internationally recognised rankings like the Times Higher Education World University Rankings or Q
Public Institutes that are eligible to apply under Institutes of Eminence are as follows:
– Central Universities
– Government-owned and controlled Deemed to be Universities.
– lnstitutions of National lmportance such as IITs, NITs, etc.
– State Universities set up under a law made by Legislative Assembly of a State.
These institutes need to submit a proposal providing their action plan along with milestones and timelines. Apart from this, the institutes also need to mention the milestones they plan to achieve over the next 5 to 15 years.
This year as many as 114 institutes had applied for the tag including 11 central universities, 27 ‘institutes of national importance’, top IITs and NITs, 27 state universities, 10 private universities, and four greenfield institutes.
How are they different from other Universities?
The IOEs are proposed to enjoy greater autonomy compared to other higher education institutions. They will be free to decide their fee for domestic and foreign students, and have a flexible course duration and structure. These institutes will be exempt from approvals of government or UGC for academic collaborations with foreign institutions. However, institutions based on a list of negative countries prepared by the External Affairs and Home ministries will be exceptions.
The 10 public institutions which will be selected, will also get Rs 1,000 crore each from the HRD Ministry to achieve world-class status. The government will offer no financial assistance to the private institutions.