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# Beyond Rank: Rethinking Accreditation in India
- URL: https://theinstitutionalist.jetri.com/beyond-rank-rethinking-accreditation-in-india/
- Published: 2026-11-05T04:36:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T09:11:26.000Z
- Description: A roundtable on what credible accreditation should look like for a sector of India’s scale and ambition.
- Author: Jetri Press Desk
- Tags: Jetri Dialogs, #upcoming

#### 

What should a university have to show before it earns a mark of quality, and who should get to award it? Rankings compare institutions on reputation, selectivity, placements and research. Accreditation answers a different question: whether an institution meets a clear, shared standard and delivers on what it promises.

Over three decades, India has built an architecture around NAAC and the NBA, but the sector has grown faster than the system. AISHE 2023–24 counts 1,289 universities, 48,246 colleges and 4.50 crore students. In 2023, the Education Ministry told Parliament that 695 universities and 34,734 colleges held no NAAC accreditation, and a 2026 CAG audit found that only 7 of 161 eligible Institutions of National Importance had been accredited by NAAC.

Other systems have taken different routes to the same problem. The US and much of Europe let institutions choose among multiple recognised agencies, and the US is now opening that market further. Australia relies on a single, data-led national regulator. Finland and Denmark audit an institution’s own quality systems instead of reviewing every course. And the Washington Accord, with India’s NBA among its signatories, lets engineering degrees travel across borders.

India now has its own opening. NAAC is moving to binary accreditation followed by graded maturity levels, and the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 proposes an Accreditation Council that could empanel other accrediting bodies.

How do we, as a country, judge whether an institution is good: by proximity and legacy, or by verified learning and outcomes? Entry rules test capital more than academic capability; can accreditation help reset that balance? And what will it take for an Indian accreditation mark to carry weight across borders, so that students, faculty and partnerships come our way?

This episode of Jetri Dialogs examines what accreditation should signal, and what India can learn from leading systems around the world to build trust in its universities.

### **Featuring:**

- [Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anil-sahasrabudhe-701b7325/?ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com), Former Chairman, AICTE
- [Dr. Pardis Mahdavi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/pardis-mahdavi/?ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com), Executive Director, Executive Leadership Academy, UC Berkeley
- [Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishikesha-krishnan-662601/?ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com), Vice-Chancellor, Ashoka University

📅 Thursday, November 19, 2026  
⏰ 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM IST  
📍 Live on Zoom

[Register Now](https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/9017937832345/WN%5FHKKBy004T9-p9nrxZIDHjw?ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com)