Colleges, varsities must disclose fee structure, refund policy: UGC chief

Details of patents, foreign and industry collaborations, internal quality assurance cell, internal complaint committee, etc are also part of a checklist issued by the University Grants Commission

The UGC has made it mandatory for universities and higher education institutions to disclose on their websites details of fee structure and refund policy, hostel facilities, scholarships, rankings and accreditation, according to top officials.

The move comes after the higher education regulator observed that the websites of several universities lack not only in providing basic minimum information but many of these are not functional and updated.

Details of patents, foreign and industry collaborations, internal quality assurance cell, internal complaint committee, anti-ragging cell with helpline number, and equal opportunity cell, are also part of a checklist issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

"We have found that the websites of several universities lack not only in providing basic minimum information related to their university but also at many a times their websites are not functional and updated. This causes lot of inconveniences and uncertainty to the stakeholders.

"At this defining moment when we are celebrating third year of National Education Policy 2020 it would be prudent to desire from the universities to provide basic minimum information and updated content on their website. We have prepared a check list of these information to be provided by the universities on their websites," said UGC chairman Jagadesh Kumar.

Details about alumni association, ombudsman; constituent units, affiliated colleges, and off shore campuses, student grievance redressal committee, socio-economically disadvantaged group cell and CPIO and appellate authority, are also on the mandatory checklist.