The performance of educational institutions within the country, are measured on quality parameters, which will now determine the extent of autonomy and the level of regulatory scrutiny they will face. The government has also decided that top-ranking institutions will be exempt from the UGC's review mechanism, thus giving higher level of autonomy top performing institutions.

The blueprint for this new regime is ready and the draft University Grants Commission Regulations 2017, which shall be applicable to all universities established under a Central Act, a Provincial or State Act as well as Deemed to be University and all autonomous colleges, this regulation will come into effect as soon as it is notified in the Gazette of India.

As per economic times, the proposed framework , named as `Graded Autonomy', will hinge on the score of an institution given by the Academic and Administrative Audit (AAA) peer team and the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), has decided to to categories all the institutions on 4 tiers with its own eligibility criteria and level of autonomy.

TIER I:

Tier I Eligibility:

1. An institution must conform to two criteria
2. It needs a score of A+ / A++ in the accreditation carried out by AAA (score greater than 3.5 on a 4 point scale).
3. It must be ranked among the top-75 institutions in the NIRF rankings for that year.

Level of Autonomy:

1. Having attained the desired level of institutional excellence, these institutions will be free from UGC review mechanism completely .
2. These top category institutions will be free for following:
   • To start new courses and departments.
   • Enter into academic collaborations with foreign educational institutions.
   • Undertake curricular reforms and introduce academic innovations in tune with the global best practices.
   • They can also start their own new campuses and centres as per their own Act and regulations governing them.
   • They shall have the freedom to fix fees for any programme on their own.

TIER II:

Tier II Eligibility:

1. An institution must have one of the following criteria ­­ it needs to score A+A++ in the accreditation carried out by AAA (score of greater than 3.5 on a 4 point scale) OR be ranked among the top-75 institutions in the NIRF rankings for that year.

Level of Autonomy

With a high level of institutional excellence having been achieved, these institutions will have following freedom:

1. To go to the UGC to start new departments and courses.
2. Set up new campuses.
3. Fix fees for programmmes or undertake curricular reform.

TIER III:

Tier III Eligibility:

Institutions which have either scored Grade A in AAA accreditation (score 3-3.5 on a 4 point scale) OR which ranks among the top 150 institutions in the NIRF rankings for the year, will fall in this category.

Autonomy Level:

With a moderate level of excellence, these institutions have following freedom:

1. They will not need to approach the UGC for starting new courses and undertaking curricular reforms.
2. They will, however, be reviewed by the UGC's expert committee every 5-7 years.

TIER IV:

Tier IV Eligibility:

Any institutions which has neither scored a Grade A in the AAA accreditation nor is among the top 150 in the NIRF ranking.

Level of Autonomy

1. These institutions will be reviewed and visited by a UGC Expert Committee as per UGC Regulations.
2. These reviews will aim at identifying constraints and lacunae hampering the institution.
3. A peer team will `mentor' and handhold such institutions and suggest best practices to improve in the required areas.

Though the above said category distribution is mere based on souces as mentioned by media and they might change as and when the news regading the framework is officially declared by UGC.

With inputs from EconomicTimes