The triple cities—GIFT, Delhi and Mumbai have taken the initial lead to bring home foreign university campuses in India with more upscale metros getting ready. Foreign university campuses easing its way to India raises a million-dollar question—when will Indian universities operate in foreign style in India? With Trump’s MAGA assault on American universities turning out to be a recipe of uncertainty and academic chaos, the global mobility of students finding alternate routes to various other foreign destination and India’s growth story continuing to get stronger, this converging trifecta offers hope for the Indian university ecosystem to charter a homegrown pathway for excellence.
The geopolitical turbulence including the polarised immigration policy for Chinese students in American universities and India’s rise in the global student mobility chart is all set to fire this double-barrelled gun with domestic policy ammunition. Some Indo-American-Chinese points to navigate before we close with a policy recommendation.
The federal financial freeze to premier American Universities like Harvard, Columbia, etc. has sent ripples in the research waters of American academia. Harvard President Alan Garber’s undeterred counter is also equally resistive considering Harvard’s robust balance sheet.
The 2024 year ending financials for Harvard University saw rise in revenue and expenses (rate of expense rise more than revenue) with dominant source of operating revenue (USD 6.5 billion) coming from endowment income (32 per cent) and dominant expense towards people expenses (USD 3.3 billion) being 52 per cent of the total opex. With a fat and growing endowment of USD 53.2 billion (increased by USD 2 billion during 2024), Harvard can deftly manage Trump’s policy shrug.
But the optics is more important. Same is the case with major universities like Columbia, Yale, University of Southern California, Princeton, etc. which a war-chest endowment and non-excessive reliance of tuition fee-based revenue. The Harvard University’s degree seeking tuition fee revenue is only 12 per cent of its total revenue and the share of foreign students in 28 per cent. Similar figures apply to other globally popular and elite universities of US who have financial shock absorbers to manage diminishing enrolment of foreign students and are capable of attracting domestic students who otherwise would have studied in tier 2 or 3 universities.
Such universities will now orchestrate more promotional road shows in their promising markets of China, India, Indonesia, Africas, Philippines, etc.
The Chinese reaction to the American immigration fracas has strategic undercurrents with a view to not only create alternate models but also emerge as a global education hub. I have previously written on the Chinese build-up towards building world class universities through state facilitated policies with a long-term plan. The size and speed at which they are advancing is shaking certain fundamentals of the game.
The ‘haigui’ (sea-turtles) as the foreign educated returning Chinese are called, have been instrumental in building the science and engineering education in many universities like Tsinghua and Peking comparable to America. Some Chinese are looking at Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, etc. as alternate geographies besides the increasing others who want to develop Chinese University using this turbulence as an opportunity. The Chinese government cannot change what America is doing but certainly is changing what it can do.
The Indian side of the foreign landscape is a mixed bag. Surpassing China in terms of growth rate last year, China still retaining the top status of sending the largest number of Chinese to top five destinations—the US, UK, Canada, Australia and France, India is second to China in absolute numbers. India also seems to find an alternate growing interest in Australia, EU, Japan, etc. but needs more efforts to build the native Indian university ecosystem with a foreign touch.
Though India and China have invested roughly the same in education (averaging 4.1 per cent to 4.6 per cent of GDP), the Chinese per capita investment is five times more that of India. The lucrative research grants and the magnetic incentives luring back overseas Chinese to China are the double engines of university reforms in China besides revitalising its university autonomy.
The UGC Regulations for establishing foreign university campuses in India is a route for foreign universities taking the Pacific or Atlantic or Arabian Sea route to enter India with an oceanic depth in autonomy. The global academic freedom index is a pointer for more university autonomy in India. The regulatory framework for Indian universities in India requires more autonomy which may be given to the top 100 NIRF universities to begin with. There will be marginal collateral damage but it is worth the effort as mainland institutional autonomy requires the oceanic depth that others enjoy. Is anybody listening?