The University Grants Commission (UGC) has come out with new regulations for granting equivalence to foreign degrees, with a 15-day processing time which has sought to bring an end to the months-long wait suffered by return students.

The "University Grants Commission (Recognition and Grant of Equivalence to Qualifications obtained from Foreign Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2025", notified in the Gazette of India, provides a uniform mechanism for foreign degree recognition through an online portal. The regulations will cover all foreign degrees except professional courses such as medicine, law, and architecture, which will continue to be regulated by their respective bodies. Degrees acquired through franchising arrangements will also not be recognized.

The new system replaces the century-long procedure that has been exclusively done by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) since its inception in 1925. Over 1.33 million Indian students are studying overseas for higher education as of August 2024, government statistics reveal. While not all of them come back to work in India, many of them do. Data regarding the number of such students was not easily available.

The AIU has 1,064 member universities, with 19 of them being offshore universities. It issues, on average, 2,000 equivalence certificates every year. According to the guidelines, the applicant must apply online using UGC's specially designed portal with the fee as stipulated. The permanent committee will examine each case within 10 working days based on considering course duration, credit (10% variation acceptable), curriculum structure and learning components.

UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said the move resolves a 'long-standing issue' of delay for foreign degree students to get absorbed into India's education sector or economy. "UGC has introduced a transparent, technology-driven system to recognize foreign qualifications. Indian institutions must provide equitable recognition to degrees acquired abroad if we have to welcome foreign students", Kumar said in a statement.

Whether AIU would continue issuing equivalence certificates was not responded to by UGC officials. "It depends on government notification", affirms a top AIU official. Former secretary-general of AIU Prof Furqan Qamar was fearful: Two authorities cannot issue equivalence certificates. I don't believe UGC can do better than AIU and might realize the complexities later.

Qamar also said that degree equivalence abroad is handled by independent organizations: An independent agency, World Education Services, handles equivalence certificates in America and Canada, and similarly there are such networks of nations in Europe. Former UGC chairperson Sukhadeo Thorat, however, welcomed the decision: Now, students will have clearer understanding while pursuing studies abroad owing to these rules.