It is nice to know that India comes at the second numbering the world, when the topic in discussion is ‘higher education network’. In India, the universities are created by the Central or State Governments by means of legislation, whereas the colleges are set up by either the state governments or by private bodies. All the colleges are affiliated to one or the other university.

Different types of universities:

• Central or State universities— Central universities are funded directly by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, whereas those on state level are funded by various state governments.
  
  
• Deemed universities— They enjoy similar academic status and all the privileges of a traditional university.  Examples are the Deccan College of Post Graduate and Research Institute, Pune; Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore; etc

• Institutions of National Importance— These are university-level institutions funded by the Central Government and established or designated by Acts of Parliament. The institutes falling under this category include the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, etc.

Majority of the universities are 'affiliating universities' and recommend to the affiliated colleges, the admission standards and modules of study, hold exams and award degrees. University departments teach postgraduate education and guide and promote research in a variety of specialties. Undergraduate and, to some extent, postgraduate education is imparted by the colleges affiliated to a particular university.

Classification of Colleges

Indian colleges can be broadly classified into four categories. The basis of this categorization is:

• The kind of courses offered by them (professional/ vocational)
  
  
• Their ownership status( Private/ Government)
  
  
• Their relationship with the university (affiliated/university owned)

• University colleges: The colleges, which are managed by the university itself and are usually situated in the campus of the university.
  
  
• Government colleges: The colleges, which are managed by the state governments. Such colleges are few, in fact only about 15-20% of the total colleges. The examination scenario, courses, awarding the degrees, all the aspects are handled by the universities to which these colleges are affiliated.
  
  
• Professional colleges: These colleges are mostly in the fields of medicine, engineering and management. The number of such colleges for other disciplines is very few. Such colleges are managed and sponsored either by government or by private enterprises.
  
• Privately managed colleges: More than 70 percent of the colleges are found by the privately owned societies or trusts. But these colleges also have to abide the rules of the university they are affiliated to. The State Government also plays a role in funding them.

Courses related to Higher Education Level

Indian Universities offer many courses in the following disciplines:

Engineering and Technology

Computer Sciences, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Bio-informatics

Medical, Dental, Nursing, Pharmacy and Paramedical

Agriculture / Veterinary Sciences, Dairy Technology and Fisheries

Arts & Fine Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Commerce, Science and Management

Hotel Management & Catering Technology, Travel and Tourism

Fashion Design & Technology

These academic programs are offered at Vocational Diploma, Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Doctoral levels.

Distance Education

There are 66 distance education institutes in India. They are functioning in 60 different universities. Besides these there are 11 open universities, which also offer distance education programs. India Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), is one of the leading open universities, which caters to more than 1 million students around the world.

Vocational Education

There are 1500 vocational institutes, which offer certified vocational education in India. These vocational education areas include agriculture, commerce, business, health and Para-medical, home science and humanities in addition to engineering trades.

Courses and Degrees

Undergraduate Courses:-

These courses in general are of three years and Bachelor’s degree is awarded at the completion of these courses. These degrees are awarded by the universities and higher education institutes in the streams of Arts, Science, Commerce, etc. professional degrees in the subjects like Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy are of a longer time period, usually ranging from four to five and a half years.

Postgraduate Courses:-

Postgraduate Courses in Arts, Science, Engineering and Medicine are basically for two years and a Master's degree is awarded at the end of the course. In some specialized fields such as a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree, the possession of a Bachelor's degree in any discipline is required before taking the admission. 
Some universities and higher institutes put forward a diploma or a certificate course of lesser duration courses in disciplines like Engineering, Agricultural Sciences and Computer Technology. However the duration of these courses is different from university to university.

Doctoral Courses:-

Doctoral courses such as M Phil and PhD are offered only at the university colleges. These courses involve lots of thorough research work under a chosen/allotted guide, involving thesis submission and viva-voce.

Finishing point of PHD course delegates the title of 'Doctor' to the individual.