Will India Become An Ivy League Destination?

Yes, India needs that transformation sooner than later as the country should keep the outflow worth $2 billion or more a year, spent by Indian students studying abroad. As most of them do not return, this is certainly a brain drain of sorts. The money goes out of the Indian economy and does not provide any benefit in return.

Moreover, India is an emerging global power. Therefore, in sync with its growing sphere of influence, it not only has to retain its own students but should also attract overseas students. Of course, a few foreign students, mainly from the Middle East, other Asian countries and African nations study in a handful of Indian universities even now. But in tune with developing its economy and its huge IT industry, India should concurrently develop and upgrade its universities. It needs the trained manpower in order to get ahead.

Tough competition in education space
However, India faces stiff competition from the Ivy League schools, such as Harvard, Yale and Columbia. In addition, countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and even Australia are developing their education systems and Indian students are also opting for these countries to pursue professional degrees.

Also, Ivy League schools have the advantage of receiving billions of dollars in funding, subsidies and research grants from the US Federal and State governments, as well as their alumni and industry support. Harvard tops the list of recipients with more than $32 billion. Needless to say, no Indian university, however prestigious, can attract that kind of funding, especially in terms of research grants.

Role of Indian institutions
The Indian government has in place quite a few top quality technical and business education institutions, thanks to the creation and funding of premier IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management). Their alumni are in top places, not only in India (they are working with around 33% of Indian companies) but all over the world, especially in the IT industry. Today, Indians such as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe Systems head Shantanu Narayen are managing industry-leading companies. Indra Nooyi, the current PepsiCo chairperson and CEO, is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta.

Although the number of IITs has grown to 15, the new ones are lacking in good teaching faculty, infrastructure, research funding and corporate support.

Emerging trends
However, it is heartening to see the success of the 10-year-old and privately funded Indian School of Business Management (ISB). It was placed at No. 12 in 2010 in the Financial Times’ global B-school rankings.

To quote its dean, Ajit Rangnekar, “We identified five key areas in the beginning – an outstanding student body, a world class curriculum, global faculty, a strong infrastructure and a very committed staff to look after the ‘business’ part of the school.” It developed its curriculum with help from Wharton and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

IIM Ahmedabad, the most prestigious and sought-after business school in India, also got a ranking of No. 11 for its one-year course the first time it applied. In fact, IITs and IIMs are waking up to the fact that they have to go in for brand building if they want to become Ivy Leaguers.

Amity University, another private set-up, is also doing extremely well, attracting students from India and abroad. It has excellent facilities and top teaching faculty, and gives international exposure to its students. Its campuses are spread all over Uttar Pradesh and it has business schools all over India besides international campuses in London, Dubai, Singapore and Mauritius.

Another player is Ashoka University in Delhi, a pure Liberal Arts college providing Ivy League education at a fraction of the cost. It aims to look beyond medical and engineering education.

Joining the ranks
In a bid to get ahead in the education space, the Indian government approved the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill back in 2010. The aim is to attract Ivy League universities to set up branches in India or collaborate with existing or new Indian institutes. It was proposed that the foreign university should be not less than 20 years old and have a corpus fund of over $10 million.

The response has been lukewarm, though, as top overseas colleges are wary of spoiling their reputation. After all, expansion could lead to dilution of the brand value. Also, most of them run on Federal and State funding, and may not get the same kind of funds for their proposed branches in India. They would have to rely on other sources such as Indian industry/corporate houses and their alumni, and they would be competing with already established Indian institutes.

Another snag that the foreign universities in India could face relates to research and research funding. Most of the cutting edge R&D is carried out in the Ivy League universities and related centres. It is the major attraction for students worldwide.

But research in India has not received the amount of government support it requires. The IITs and IIMs have to interact more closely with the industrial sectors, making education more relevant to commercial needs. Only then they can attract corporate funding.

Indian industries, too, should get more involved in university education as they are drawing their manpower from these institutions. Additionally, private universities, too, should be encouraged. Genuine tie-ups with major foreign institutions in order to improve the quality of education could be the answer.

It is a long road uphill, but India can achieve its dream of becoming an Ivy League destination.