Indian Students Can Soon Get Dual Degrees From Indian And Foreign Institutes As UGC Prepares Guidelines

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has readied the draft regulations for academic collaborations between Indian and foreign higher education institutions to provide Indian students with the option to study under dual degree programmes and also get the benefit of credit transfers and joint degrees, reports Times of India.

It is likely that the UGC (Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Education Institutions to offer Joint Degree, Dual Degree and Twinning Programmes) Regulations, 2021 will be notified soon.

The draft regulations state that any degree or diploma awarded based on these collaborations "shall be equivalent to any corresponding degree or diploma by the Indian higher education institution; there shall be no further requirement of seeking equivalence from any authority".

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the regulations won't apply to programmes offered online and open and distance-learning mediums.

Also, the regulations will allow for four kinds of academic collaborations between Indian and foreign institutions. These would be credit recognition and transfer, joint degree programme, dual degree programme and twinning arrangement. The regulations do not allow for franchise arrangements under these collaborations.