E-Paper
Private universities outnumber government varsities in Uttar Pradesh: Govt stats
Private sector in higher education booming in Uttar Pradesh with 38 private universities surpassing state universities. Key role in increasing higher education enrolments.
Even as the state government is focusing on opening new government-run institutions of higher education in the state, the private sector is also moving forward strongly in the field of higher education in Uttar Pradesh.
The number of private colleges was already more than the state and government-aided colleges. In the last few years, the number of private universities has surpassed the state universities. Currently, there are 22 state universities, one deemed and one open university in the state, while the number of private universities has reached 38, confirm officials of the state higher education department.
Private universities in the state started getting recognition from 2004 in the Hindi heartland state. First of all, Integral University, Kursi Road at Lucknow opened in 2004. After that, Amity University-Noida started operating in 2005. In 2010, the operation of seven private universities was given the green signal.
A scrutiny of the geographical locations of these institutions shows that most private universities in the state are in Lucknow and the districts of Western UP. Four private universities are operating in Lucknow while there are six private universities in Noida, four in Mathura and three in Meerut. In Eastern UP, there is one private university each in Prayagraj and Gorakhpur.
“The role of private institutions has increased in Uttar Pradesh in the past few years and in the past two decades the state has seen a total of 38 private universities setting up campuses and offering diverse courses for the students. These institutions are also playing a key role in increasing higher education enrolments in the state,” said Amit Bharadwaj, Director (Higher Education), Uttar Pradesh.
