At least eight universities from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada consider India a destination for setting up international branch campuses. However, a survey of top universities has found that the global COVID-19 pandemic has put many plans on hold for others.
According to a survey report recently released by the International Cooperation Unit of the government-funded National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in New Delhi, eight unnamed universities said that They will ‘definitely consider’ setting up a branch campus in India. which conducted an international online survey between December 2020 and February this year.
Some 43 institutions from 11 countries responded, including many that are already operating international branch campuses elsewhere in the world. Of those ‘definitely considering’ setting up a branch campus in India, five were from the US, and one each from the UK, Australia, and Canada.
But many foreign universities are still adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach as domestic regulations governing the establishment of international branch campuses in India are yet to be framed by the government.
All 43 responding institutions are in the top 200 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and three are in the top 10.
A wide cross-section of universities from the UK, US, Australia, and Canada considers India as a strategic market for student recruitment, said Eldho Mathews, deputy advisor with the unit at NIEPA and author of the survey report Establishing International Branch Campuses in India.
