National Assessment And Accreditation Council:
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which carries out quality checks or assessments of Indian Higher-level Educational Institutions (HEIs), courted controversy recently over the rating of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and allegations of bribery in the process.
- The NAAC, an autonomous body under the University Grants Commission (UGC), assesses and certifies HEIs with gradings as part of accreditation.
- Through a multi-layered process, a higher education institution learns whether it meets the standards of quality set by the evaluator in terms of curriculum, faculty, infrastructure, research, and other parameters.
- The ratings of institutions range from A++ to C. If an institution is graded D, it means it is not accredited.
- There are 1,043 universities and 42,343 colleges listed on the portal of the All India Survey on Higher Education.
- As per the latest data from June 21, there were 406 universities and 8,686 colleges that were NAAC-accredited.
- Among the states, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of accredited colleges at 1,869 – more than twice as many as Karnataka’s 914, the second highest. Tamil Nadu has the most accredited universities at 43.
