UGC Releases Guidelines for Supernumerary Seats for International Students

The University Grants Commission (UGC) today released guidelines for admission and creation of supernumerary seats for international students in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes in higher educational institutes (HEIs) in India.

The official announcement states that higher education institutions (HEIs) may set aside up to 25% of their total sanctioned enrollment for undergraduate and graduate programs as supernumerary seats for foreign students. The concerned higher education institutions must decide how to allocate 25% of supernumerary seats in accordance with the norms and regulations established by the regulating agencies, taking into account the needs of the faculty, infrastructure, and other factors.

Nevertheless, international students enrolled in exchange programs, through Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between institutions, or through agreements between the Government of India and other nations will not be eligible for this twenty-five percent of the supernumerary seats reserved for foreign students.

Additionally, the institutes have been requested to allocate these 25% of seats across all departments, schools, centers, or other academic divisions within the university.

The UGC reaffirmed that supernumerary seats in UG and PG programmes should only be provided to international students; in other words, if a seat becomes available, no one else should be given that seat.

The statutory organizations in charge of professional and technical institute supernumerary seats will also regulate PhD seats, while the UGC’s regulations will apply to those seats.

Additionally, it is mandated that all of these institutions have a “Office for International Students” in order to keep track of year-by-year information about the number of students, country, program, subject, duration, etc.