The Kerala State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Draft Bill (2025), which invites private investments in higher education (HE), is a game changer — allowing the aspirations of the youth to capture global opportunities — and a break with the past, which was marred by a “by Kerala, for Kerala” approach in HE, as Tirthankar Roy and I describe in our book Kerala, 1956 to the Present: India’s Miracle State.
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Kerala’s state universities have been performing well, with several securing commendable grades in their NAAC accreditations. By Niti Aayog’s own admission, Kerala remains one of the top spenders on higher education per youth and ranks at the top in quality education in the government think tank’s Sustainable Development Goals Index.
Yet the potential of private investments in HE has not been fully tapped, owing to a lack of re-orienting politics and policies. The state’s initiative to welcome private investment in human capital now signals a turnaround. This goes well with the idea of Nava Kerala, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s mission to transform the state into a knowledge economy, by placing it as an international education hub.
Three major advantages of the move can be highlighted. First, in Kerala, only 20 per cent of higher education is provided by state-run institutions, while the remaining 80 per cent comes from privately owned institutions. Expanding the role of private universities will allow the state to focus more on public universities, enhancing their quality and infrastructure.
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Second, given the fact that private universities will have to compete with each other as well as state universities, it is only likely to improve the quality of education. The pressure to change would be reflected in faculty-student interactions, the adoption of new teaching methods, regular updation of the curriculum, student evaluation of faculty members, the adoption of tutorial systems and more.
With public universities that are already performing well, as well as a falling youth population, private universities in Kerala cannot sustain simply by providing conventional courses. If they want to attract students, given their higher fees, they need to ensure that they are in the top league in terms of innovation and research.
Third, a state with a vision for the future can’t afford to ignore the internationalisation of higher education and the transnational migration of students; it has to integrate with these global dynamics on competitive terms. Even now, not less than 2.5 lakh Malayali students are studying abroad, which is by and large a reflection of Kerala’s inclusive prosperity. High-performing private universities and foreign universities — which will naturally be on the cards in the future — could help the state retain talent locally. The number of foreign students in Kerala has also been rising, and private universities will help accentuate this process, which in turn will benefit the state, too.
Fourth, by introducing private universities — including, eventually, foreign universities — the government is playing a facilitating role in strengthening the overall higher education ecosystem and thereby helping the aspirations of the youth meet their perceived goals.
Fifth, the top-performing private universities in India are generally funded by industrial houses, which can help mobilise resources for investment in research and innovation. This will build a more dynamic industry-academic collaboration and generate modern skills and employment, which can contribute to the economy in the long term.
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This doesn’t mean there is no opposition to the state’s stance on private universities. For instance, private universities are generally opposed on the ground that they charge huge fees and will exclude students from marginalised communities. It is obviously true that the cost of education would rise, but what is equally true is that the global competitiveness of students would go up. It is worth noting that in the case of foreign universities, once they are allowed to operate in Kerala, as in some other states including Gujarat, students can expect to save approximately half of the tuition fees compared to what they would pay if they enrolled directly in a foreign country. Further, studying locally but in a foreign university would offer significant savings on living expenses, travel and other contingency expenses. This would also give them easier access to loans, so the burden would be less for the parents as well. In fact, the state, in cooperation with banks, could even think of designing a new policy of “study first, pay later” as we find in developed countries.
Additionally, the LDF, while drafting the Bill, has addressed concerns of social and educational equity by ensuring greater access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. To safeguard inclusivity, the government has mandated that 40 per cent of seats in private universities be reserved for students from Kerala. Additionally, these institutions must comply with the state’s existing reservation policies and provide scholarships and other financial support to socially and economically disadvantaged students. The state will also provide financial support to such students.
Private universities must adapt to these conditions to operate within the state, ensuring that access to quality education remains equitable and socially just. While it is not certain how far these requirements will apply to foreign universities, coming in line with such social commitments would earn them the goodwill of both the state and the people. Universal education at the end of the day is an ethical act. Ethics, in any domain, is best upheld through joining hands rather than isolation.
The writer is expert member, Kerala State Planning Board
