By Monty Singh
In 2020, the National Education Policy (NEP) reimagined education in India as holistic and inclusive, aiming to achieve a 50% Gross Enrolment Ratio by 2035. Core goals included expanding access for underserved groups, ensuring equity via scholarships and regional focus, and promoting multidisciplinary learning that blends arts and sciences. Subsequent UGC regulations, introduced in 2023, allowed foreign universities to set up campuses in the country.
Foreign universities offering international education and degrees in India are seen as a cornerstone of NEP as it sought to position the higher education sector as a contender among the world’s best, as well as to catalyse research partnerships. The overarching goal is to create an education system that enables Indian students to access high-quality education and gain global exposure of best practices without leaving home.
Building on this, international universities embedded in India provide students with direct access to world-class standards supporting the NEP’s objectives of global exposure and upgrading workforce skills. Offerings such as diverse curricula, faculty exchange and inter-disciplinary education equip students with both technical and soft skills thereby addressing pronounced gaps in employability.
Australian universities, in particular, bring a distinctive pedagogical tradition: one built on applied, work-integrated and multidisciplinary learning. Programmes that combine disciplines whether pairing engineering with design thinking or commerce with data science are central to how these institutions have long operated. In India, these models aim to equip students with both the technical depth and cross-functional soft skills that employers demand.
In contrast to the traditional learning that has long dominated Indian classrooms, international universities inspire graduates to excel in critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving, with considerable emphasis on independent learning. This shift maps directly onto NEP’s vision of moving Indian education away from exam-driven learning toward competency development.
A sector responding to demographic reality
With India’s college-going population expected to rise from 155 million to 165 million by 2030, the education sector is witnessing a boom. There are around 450 private universities in India, and many of these have been created in the last decade. Among these, a growing cohort of foreign institutions have established a presence in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR, enabled by the regulatory environment created by 2023 UGC guidelines.
The underlying dynamic is straightforward: with young individuals comprising ~30% of India’s 1.4 billion population, public universities are unable to cater to these huge numbers. Therefore, private universities and online education options are mushrooming and flourishing. A further advantage of foreign university models is the flexibility around non-traditional learners. Unlike many public institutions, international campuses actively support upskilling, career transitions and re-entry after a gap in study, making quality higher education genuinely more inclusive.
Compared to home-grown private universities, foreign institutions offer a legacy of education and global credibility backed by strong international rankings. Critically, when a prospective student weighs the cost of studying abroad against a foreign-affiliated degree obtained in India, the local option costs less than half the equivalent overseas programme, delivering global credentials at a locally accessible price point.
Multidisciplinary learning and work-integrated education in practice
Foreign university campuses in India are, in practice, demonstrating NEP’s goals with rigorous accreditation standards, carried over from the parent institution, ensuring quality consistency. UGC oversight provides a layer of local accountability, but the more substantive contribution lies in pedagogy: project-based and problem-centered learning, where students tackle real-world challenges across disciplinary boundaries. This approach directly mirrors NEP’s emphasis on experiential education over passive knowledge transfer.
Cross-border knowledge sharing is now widely recognised as a powerful driver of transformation. Initiatives such as faculty exchanges expose students to diverse research traditions, global case studies and modes of inquiry that expand intellectual horizons beyond what any single national system can offer.
Early results and the road to 2035
There is a significant interest in international education being delivered in India, although, the enrolments into programmes offered by international campuses remains to be tested. International campuses will plan for modest interest relative to the scale of annual domestic enrolments, the expansion will be meaningful and trajectory will be clear. These campuses represent a broadening of multidisciplinary, internationally benchmarked education in India.
More importantly, the model being established is the right one, where our students stay on home soil but compete on global terms – precisely what NEP envisioned. These universities, with their applied learning traditions, multidisciplinary structures and work-integrated programmes, are well-placed to be meaningful partners in shaping Indian society. The task now is to shape the next generation of Indian students, with long-term institutional commitment, sustained research collaboration and genuine co-investment in India’s educational future.
Monty Singh is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global) and Chief International Officer at Victoria University.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETEDUCATION does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETEDUCATION will not be responsible for any damage caused to any person or organisation directly or indirectly.
