Manipal Academy's two-year expansion plan includes new 80-acre campus

Will introduce new programmes at undergraduate and post graduate level under the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

Charting fresh expansion plans, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) is planning to set up new campuses over the next two years, including an 80-acre campus in Bengaluru. Having been declared this year as an 'Institution of Eminence', MAHE plans to add new institutions, new departments, new programmes in future. 

While it is still finalising the areas to cover, the erstwhile Manipal University plans to introduce new programmes at undergraduate and post graduate level in future under the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Apart from helping in employment generation, the opening of new campuses will also lead to a renewed focus on research, innovation, entrepreneurship and collaborations. 

"Considering the changing dynamics of education especially in the Covid era, it is a great moment for MAHE to take a giant leap towards aligning courses as per the NEP guidelines and moving towards a more skill- based learning. MAHE has always been at the fore by making education resonate towards employment and innovation. In fact we have also made good progress by using technology to better our Education system and with this new path ahead, we are confident that this will open more avenues for students," said MAHE vice chancellor Lt Gen Dr Venkatesh. 

According to MAHE Registrar Narayana Sabhahit, already this year 15 per cent of the budget will be spent on research even as the varsity targets to take up the number of research paper publication from current 2500 to 8000 in the coming years. 

 

However, Venkatesh added that a significant amount of corpus would be raised by 2028 to drive research and innovation, for which fund raising plans will be chalked out. 

Among new campuses, apart from Bengaluru, MAHE is also coming up with a medical college in Jamshedpur with 130 seats. Currently, MAHE caters to 13000 students across campuses in Mangalore, Bangalore, Dubai and Malaysia. 

Talking about campus placements, Sabhahit stated that the process, which will continue till April, has so far yielded a highest salary package of Rs 33.3 lakhs and average package of Rs 10.62 lakhs in its engineering programs with over 90 companies visiting for recruitment. 

Meanwhile, as per the Government & UGC guidelines, MAHE is planning to invite the students to campuses in a phased manner with the consent of parents. "We will follow all Government protocols of maintaining high standards of safety for students on campus with social distancing and regular sanitation. Renewed efforts for assistance to students will be offered for placements and internships via collaboration with Corporates and Industries will be a primary focus," Venkatesh added.