- NAAC will launch a new accreditation system in August replacing its 30-year-old model
- Institutions will be rated as Accredited or Not Accredited, replacing the seven-point scale
- Basic accreditation will be document-based with no physical visits to ensure transparency
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is set to roll out a completely revamped accreditation system for higher education institutions in August, NAAC Chairman Professor Anil Sahasrabudhe told NDTV. Replacing its three-decade-old model, the new framework shifts from traditional field visits to an online database powered by Artificial Intelligence. The existing seven-point rating scale will be replaced with a simpler outcome: institutions will now be marked as either 'Accredited' or 'Not Accredited'.
The updated model will offer two levels of assessment - a basic accreditation and a more advanced, maturity-based graded system.
"Until now only 40 per cent of Indian universities and 18 per cent of colleges are accredited. With this reform, we target over 90 per cent of higher education institutions across the country in the next five years to come forward and get accredited," said Professor Sahasrabudhe.
Addressing longstanding concerns about transparency and corruption, the new model eliminates peer review visits for basic accreditation. "The earlier model assessed nearly 90 parametres, with 70 per cent supported by documented proof and 30 per cent evaluated through peer team visits. However, the visits often led to complications and concerns over credibility. As a result, the new system eliminates physical visits for basic accreditation, shifting entirely to document-based verification," he said.
To ensure accountability, NAAC will randomly select a panel of stakeholders - ranging from retired vice-chancellors and faculty members to industry leaders, NGO representatives and administrators - to crosscheck institutional claims.
Once institutions submit their documents, the system will automatically generate a set of questions, which will be distributed to around 100 randomly chosen stakeholders. Their feedback will be used to assign a credibility score between 0 and 1, ensuring rigorous verification.
The overhaul is being seen as a significant shift towards efficiency, transparency and scalability in India's higher education evaluation process.
Each institution will begin with a default credibility score of 0.5. This score will increase if the expert reviewers confirm the authenticity of the submitted documents and decrease if any discrepancies or falsified data are identified. The system will also use AI to track the credibility of the reviewers themselves.
"This is our uniquely developed method for validating data through stakeholder feedback. We follow a principle of trusting but verifying. If an institution submits false documents, its score will drop - and if misconduct is confirmed, institutions could be barred from the accreditation process for up to three years," Professor Sahasrabudhe stated.
Under the basic accreditation system, universities will be evaluated on 55 parametres, autonomous colleges on 50, and affiliated colleges on 40. Institutions that fail to meet the minimum score - 50 per cent for universities, 45 per cent for autonomous colleges, and 40 per cent for affiliated colleges - will not receive accreditation.
After securing accreditation under this basic structure, institutions will become eligible to participate in a more advanced, maturity-based graded accreditation system. This new model introduces five progressive levels - Level 1 to Level 5 - designed to reflect an institution's developmental stage and aspirations.
Institutions already holding previous NAAC grades, such as A, A+, or A++, can also apply for accreditation under the new system - either at the basic level or directly for the maturity-based graded accreditation.
"In the maturity-based system, both the number and complexity of evaluation parameters will rise at each level," NAAC Chairman said. "For instance, a university that qualifies under the basic system with 55 parameters may need to meet between 80 and 100 parameters to progress to higher levels. We are currently refining the specific benchmarks for each level in the maturity-based system."
Physical verification visits will be introduced only at Levels 3, 4, and 5. Even at these stages, the assessment will be conducted in a hybrid format - partly online and partly on-site - to ensure transparency while minimising the risk of manipulation.
"Our goal is to encourage institutions to voluntarily participate and strive for higher standards," the chairman added.
Under the new framework, foreign universities which have set up campuses in India and others in the works are also welcome to apply for accreditation.
The reforms are based on recommendations by a high-level committee chaired by former ISRO chief Dr. K Radhakrishnan, while keeping in view the core ideas of the National Education Policy (NEP, 2020). The panel was constituted by the Education Ministry in November 2022 to reform the existing accreditation system.
