India’s higher education sector is expanding, but growth brings difficult questions about institutional sustainability, graduate employability, research funding and the purpose of university rankings. For private universities, the challenge is not just to expand enrolment and infrastructure but also to balance affordability, academic quality and long-term financial viability.Vineet Gupta, one of the founders of Ashoka University and Plaksha University, believes that Indian higher education needs to rethink some of its prevailing assumptions. He argues that not every university needs to become a research institution, and that rankings weighted heavily towards research can push institutions to pursue publications and patents without necessarily strengthening their core academic mission. In this interview with ET Education, Gupta discusses the challenges facing higher education leaders, the role of AI, the economics of private universities and why India remains a difficult destination for international students.Q. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Indian higher education over the next five to 10 years?Vineet Gupta: I think the three biggest challenges are AI and technological disruption, financial sustainability, and faculty recruitment and retention. Research funding is another important issue.Policy and regulation are also becoming relevant. While the government has been opening up the education sector, the general environment for setting up large campuses is becoming tougher. Whether it is land acquisition, building bylaws or regulations governing foreign contributions, these requirements are becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. At a broader level, operating and opening a new large campus is becoming more challenging.Q. As a founder, what are the issues that occupy most of your attention today? What is the one challenge in India’s higher education system you would most like to solve?Vineet Gupta: Institutional growth and expansion, financial sustainability, faculty recruitment and development, governance and leadership, brand and reputation, and infrastructure development occupy much of my attention.If I could solve one challenge in India’s higher education ecosystem, it would be the growing gap between the cost of higher education and the return students expect from it.The cost of higher education is going up, and private universities do not receive government subsidies. Students therefore have to pay for their education, and when they do, they look for jobs that will help them recover that investment. The question of return on investment will become increasingly important.If India wants to expand higher education, it will also need to generate jobs at the same pace. Job creation is not keeping up with the expansion of higher education. The government may need to provide scholarships or other forms of support, but the larger issue is the relationship between the cost of higher education and employability. Unless we address this, expanding access to higher education will become increasingly difficult.Q. How do you balance affordability, educational quality and institutional growth? Where do you see the biggest investment requirements over the next three to five years?Vineet Gupta: Balancing affordability with quality is a significant challenge. Universities also need to manage operational costs, secure research funding, attract philanthropy and endowments, retain faculty, and expand infrastructure.At our institutions, the major investment areas over the next three to five years include AI and digital infrastructure, faculty hiring and development, research and innovation, campus expansion, entrepreneurship and incubation, and building more centres of excellence.These are all competing demands on resources. Good laboratory facilities, infrastructure expansion, AI and faculty development all require investment. There is always pressure on resources in any system, so institutions have to balance these priorities carefully.We are fairly confident about our growth trajectory over the next five years. In the current geopolitical environment, student choices are being influenced by developments around the world. There is considerable interest among some of our brightest students in staying back and studying in India. These include students who are able to pay higher fees.We are therefore not particularly concerned about student demand. However, balancing institutional growth with the right opportunities is important. The economy needs to expand and jobs need to grow alongside the expansion of higher education.Q. How do you see AI transforming higher education over the next five years?Vineet Gupta: AI will have an impact on teaching and learning, student assessment, faculty productivity, administrative operations, research, student services, admissions and personalised learning.But AI is a support tool. We have to understand where its impact is likely to be greatest and how to use it effectively. AI itself is a technology; technology is ultimately an enabler. The important question is how institutions use it to improve what they do.Q. India aspires to become a global higher education destination. What is holding the country back, and what would it take to attract students from around the world?Vineet Gupta: India has the potential because we have very good human capital. But we need to understand why students choose countries such as the UK and the US. They go there not just for education but also for the living experience, including good housing and living conditions, and opportunities after graduation.We are not yet providing that overall experience to international students. Living conditions on many of our campuses are not good enough for international students, and we are not offering adequate post-study work opportunities. Visa clearances can also take a long time, and many of our campuses struggle with accommodation capacity even for their existing students.At present, we attract students largely from countries that are economically less developed than India, including Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, as well as several African countries. We will continue to attract students from these markets. But we have not been able to attract students from countries that are economically better off than us.Why would students come to India if they cannot get the educational and living experience they seek elsewhere?This ambition is achievable, but it requires a much more concerted national effort. The government needs to take it up as a mission and address the multiple issues involved, from visas and campus accommodation to post-study work opportunities.There is also a significant financial dimension. India spends around $11 billion on education abroad, while the inflow from international students studying here is about $1 billion. That leaves a deficit of roughly $10 billion. If we want to change this, we need to make India a more attractive destination for international students.Q. Indian universities often pursue research output and rankings as measures of institutional success. Do you think every university should aspire to become a research institution?Vineet Gupta: No. Every institution does not need to become a research institution. In the US, institutions are classified differently, and some are primarily teaching institutions.In India, however, the pressure to chase rankings is pushing universities in the wrong direction because rankings are heavily weighted towards research. As a result, many institutions are trying to demonstrate research activity by getting faculty to publish papers and file patents, even when those efforts may not translate into meaningful outcomes.What I have seen is that many universities are filing papers but not getting patents granted. Institutions are putting pressure on faculty to publish in journals that may not carry much weight, simply because they are trying to improve their rankings.The government could consider having separate rankings for research institutions and teaching-focused institutions. This would allow universities to be assessed according to their actual purpose rather than pushing every institution towards the same model.Research is important, but it should be pursued where there is a clear institutional commitment and the resources to support it.In India, much of the research is happening in government institutions. Research at private universities remains limited because they often lack the grants and philanthropic support required to fund it. If private universities have produced exceptional research, those examples are worth discussing and learning from. Otherwise, conversations about research risk becoming theoretical.Q. When you think about an institution’s legacy over the next 10 years, what matters most in building a great university?Vineet Gupta: Academic excellence, institutional culture, faculty excellence and community impact are important.Research leadership needs to be understood in the context of an institution’s purpose. Not every university needs to become a research institution, and not every institution should chase rankings. Universities need to build on their strengths and establish the kind of academic culture and institutional identity that they want to be known for.
