Prof R.K. Uppal
A university can have magnificent buildings, international-style campuses, smart classrooms, luxury hostels, branded cafeterias and an army of marketing professionals—and still fail the most important test: whether it creates knowledge, inspires students and produces genuine scholarship. This is the uncomfortable question India’s rapidly expanding private higher-education sector must confront. Are some universities becoming more concerned with visibility than scholarship, branding than teaching, infrastructure than intellectual culture, and admissions than academic transformation? The criticism should not be directed at private universities as a whole. Private investment has an important role in expanding higher education, creating infrastructure and introducing new programmes and technologies.
Many private institutions are making meaningful contributions. But expansion cannot become an excuse for allowing the educational mission to be overshadowed by commercial pressures. India’s university system has expanded enormously. The All India Survey on Higher Education 2021-22 reported more than 96 lakh students enrolled in universities and their constituent units, with state private universities accounting for about 16.2 lakh of that enrolment. This scale makes one question increasingly important: What exactly are students receiving in return for their investment in higher education? A university is not defined by its gate, tower or auditorium. It is defined by its classrooms. It is defined by the quality of its teachers. It is defined by the questions its students are encouraged to ask.
It is defined by the research its scholars produce. And ultimately, it is defined by the contribution its graduates make to society. Unfortunately, the modern higher-education marketplace increasingly rewards what can be displayed. A spectacular campus can be photographed. A new building can be advertised. An international MoU can become a headline. A large convocation can generate hundreds of social-media posts. A celebrity guest can create publicity. But academic excellence is much harder to photograph. Who measures the intellectual quality of a classroom discussion? Who counts the hours a professor spends mentoring a struggling student? Who sees the months of work behind an original research paper? Who measures whether a doctoral thesis genuinely advances knowledge? These are the foundations of a university, yet they rarely make attractive advertisements. The danger begins when branding becomes more important than academic culture.
Faculty members in some institutions can find themselves carrying responsibilities far beyond teaching and research—administration, admissions, events, student activities, documentation, promotional programmes and numerous institutional assignments. Some additional responsibilities are unavoidable in any institution. But when non-academic duties consume disproportionate academic time, the professor’s primary identity can gradually change. A professor should not become simply a target-achieving employee. A professor is an educator, researcher, mentor and intellectual. This distinction matters enormously. If teachers are constantly measured by numbers of events, admissions, reports and administrative tasks while insufficient attention is given to research quality and classroom learning, universities risk creating an impressive institutional machine without creating an equally strong intellectual culture. The issue is even more serious in doctoral education.
“Regulators and accreditation bodies should look beyond infrastructure while evaluating universities. A university should be assessed not only on buildings and facilities but also on learning outcomes, faculty stability, research quality, doctoral standards, student progression, employability, academic freedom, governance and social contribution. India does not need universities that merely look world-class. India needs universities that think, teach and research at world-class standards.”
India needs more researchers, but it needs better researchers, not merely more degrees. The UGC has established regulations governing Ph.D. standards, academic integrity and minimum qualifications, reflecting the importance of maintaining quality across higher education. A university that produces hundreds of doctoral degrees but weak original research cannot claim intellectual leadership simply because its numbers are impressive. Similarly, publishing a large number of papers should not automatically be confused with research excellence. Universities must encourage meaningful questions, rigorous methodology, ethical research practices and publications that genuinely contribute to knowledge. The race for quantity must never destroy the culture of quality. There is also a fundamental question about students. Students are not customers in the ordinary commercial sense. They are learners whose intellectual, professional and personal development is entrusted to an institution. Fees may finance education, but fees cannot define the meaning of education. A student entering a university deserves more than a beautiful campus and a degree certificate. The student deserves competent teachers, rigorous academic standards, meaningful mentoring, research opportunities, transparent evaluation and an environment where questioning is encouraged.
The UGC’s current regulatory framework itself places emphasis on areas including academic integrity, research quality, student grievance redressed, teacher qualifications and minimum standards of instruction. The challenge is therefore not merely creating rules. It is ensuring that academic standards are actually experienced inside classrooms and laboratories. These questions are far more important than how impressive a campus looks in a promotional video. Private universities have the potential to become powerful engines of India’s knowledge economy. They can experiment faster, invest in technology, attract talent and create new interdisciplinary programmes. But that potential will be realized only if academic values remain at the centre of institutional decision-making. The answer is not to reject private universities. The answer is to demand more from them.
Build beautiful campuses—but build great libraries too. Create smart classrooms—but appoint excellent teachers. Invite international partners—but develop original Indian research. Organize spectacular events—but protect classroom time. Advertise programmes—but strengthen academic content. Expand enrolment—but never compromise educational standards. The true temple of learning is not constructed from glass, steel and marble. It is constructed through knowledge, discipline, curiosity, research and integrity. A university should certainly be attractive. It should certainly have modern infrastructure. It should certainly compete globally. But when the showroom becomes more important than the classroom, something fundamental has gone wrong. The campus may attract the student. Only quality education can transform the student. That should remain the ultimate test of every university—public or private.
(The author is Principal, Guru Gobind Singh College of Management and Technology, Gidderbaha, Punjab. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
