The ICFAI tech campuses in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar and Jaipur are closed.”
“We are offering to shift students of these campuses to our university campuses in Dehradun,Tripura and Agartala”.
“We do not want an impression that we are in any way cheating students. We will offer them refunds if they do not want to shift campuses”.
These are some of the responses we have got from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (ICFAI) authorities both by email and private conversations. Are these statements coming out of genuine concern? Or are they a means to deflect criticism about an ambitious project gone wrong? Careers360 investigates.
The origins
The ICFAI took off with a solid distance learning programme, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification in 1984. Though not formally recognized, the programme was a hit and ICFAI became a familiar name in finance circles. But as it grew in size with multiple trusts and multi-location campuses, it appears to have lost its way.
It was with the 2002 Chattisgarh University Act that the floodgates opened. Like the 112 other educational groups, ICFAI too set up a university in Chattisgarh, and a host of constituent colleges all over the country. Many campuses of Business Schools (IBS), engineering schools (ICFAItech), national colleges (INC), management teachers school (IIMT), public policy (IIPP) and law college (ILC) were set up (see ICFAI Timeline given below). But, the whole expansion plan should have been reviewed after the UGC Regulations of 2003 and the Supreme Court judgment of 2005. But ICFAI paid little heed to both of them and carried on with its plans.
ICFAItech saga
The ICFAItech campuses which were set up as constituent colleges of ICFAI Univeristy, Raipur, lost their legal status once the Supreme Court ordered the closure of the ICFAI Univeristy, Raipur. And according to the same judgement 'All constituent colleges of erstwhile ICFAI University should have sought affiliation with a local university, which had jurisdiction over the states in which they were located'. Instead ICFAI tried to circumvent the orders by seeking 'advanced standing' for its students from ICFAI University, Dehradun. ICFAI officials explained that they did so primarily since syllabus of ICFAI University, Dehradun was different and superior. Even if this is true, it was contrary to the sprit of the Supreme Court judgment. And when one attempts to get under the regulatory regime of the state, one cannot pick and choose which part of the law one will follow.
ICFAItech also tried to obtain deemed university status for at least the Hyderabad campus. Even this did not work. So finally it did what it should have done in 2005. It closed all the campuses in different states, where it had no universities. In an email response sent to Careers360 ICFAI confirms the same "IcfaiTech campuses are operational at Dehradun (a unit of ICFAI University, Dehradun) and Agartala (a unit of ICFAI University, Tripura) only. Thus now onwards, there would not be any IcfaiTech campuses outside the states having the ICFAI Universities".
Now this process very clearly shows that between 2005-2008, the students enrolled in ICFAItech campuses have no strong legal basis for getting their degree, other than the dicey "advanced standing offer", the meaning of which can be disputed. This explains why students went on a protest in the Hyderabad and Bangalore campuses. Though ICFAI claims to offer a relocation or refund choice to them, this in no way compensates for the agony of students enrolled between 2005-2008, while multiple experiments were on to get within the right side of law. Another justification is that they were getting good placements. Rightly so, but if placements were all that the students sought, then the insitution could have offered an industry recognised diploma. What was the need for even getting into the regulatory mess? And the fact the students were informed by fine print about the status is no excuse for playing with their lives.
INC and IBS - the story repeats
The ICFAI Business Schools began with offering PG diploma programmes in Management. Somewhere along the line, they became institutions offering academic support for a distance learning MBA degree offered by ICFAI University. But a recent Madras High Court judgment denies them that right, at least with respect to the state of Tamil Nadu. Can a University actually claim it has no relationship with all those hundreds of colleges, which share the same brand, just by brandishing a notification which says it has no links with the institution?
The phenomenon of "offering academic support" is not exactly defined, the legal status of such a place is not very clear, and its relationship with the university is all the more opaque. Do these students directly apply to the university? How does the university deliver course materials? How and who runs the examinations? Do these local IBS/INCs have any role in any of these activities? Even if they do act as a courier, then are they not de facto study centres, which are any way banned by the UGC for the first five years of a private universities' existence?
As we go to press many students in Tamil Nadu are the net losers. IBS claims, they have offered to shift students to one of the states where they have a university. That is a Hobson's choice; either relocate to an unknown place or lose years, though ICFAI claims to offer a refund. Why should the gullible student be punished for the regulatory 'via media' experiments ICFAI undertakes?
ICFAI must realise all their institutions are tied together by brand ICFAI, which benefited enormously from that brand recall. Instead of inventing terms like 'academic support', 'advanced standing' and so on, they must either get out of the regulatory regime completely and survive on the basis of the intrinsic value of their degrees, as ISB does. Or play both by the letter and sprit of the regulation of the State, even if it means slower growth and lesser surplus.
PLEASE NOTE: So in such a scenario what should a prospective student do? Go for only regular admissions in the main campuses of ICFAI Universities or IBS, Hyderabad which has deemed univiersity status. For the rest of the campuses and courses wait till the regulatory mess becomes clear.
And, as far as the existing students of the institutes are concerned, the option cannot be relocation or refund. The individual state's higher education department must intervene, and offer advanced standing admissions to these students with no loss of years in local universities. And demand that ICFAI pay up for the expenses, involved. Do not let the student suffer at any cost! Will the state act? Can we make the state act?
| Chattisgarh mess and ICFAItech story |
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 The Chhattisgarh Niji Kshetra Vishwavidyala (Sthapana aur Viniyaman) Adhiniyam 2002 was notified on February 4, 2002, which led to the establishment of 112 universities, and ICFAI University, Raipur was one of them. The Act gave permission to set up main campus in Chattisgarh and study centres elsewhere. ICFAI institute of Science and Technology was set up in 2002 as constituent college of ICFAI University, so claims ICFAI.
In late 2004 Prof. Yashpal challenged the establishment of all these universities/colleges under the Chattisgarh Act, 2002. Supreme Court nullified the Act in 2005 and declared that all the 112 private universities so established ceased to exist.
Interestingly a Special Leave Petition was filed in the same court seeking directions regarding the off campus institutions. And one of the Interlocutory Applications in that was by students of erstwhile ICFAI Law School, which sought the Court's direction to either permit their institutions to be affiliated to any university in Chattisgarh or any other university in Andhra Pradesh.
The court's direction was clear and unambiguous. "It is always open to the law school to move an appropriate application seeking affiliation to a University which has jurisdiction...".
Instead of seeking affliation to a local university ICFAItech claims it obtained admission with advanced standing for its students in campuses at Hyderabad, Dehradun, Jaipur and Bhubaneswar from ICFAI Univesity Dehradun, under section 8 (U) of the University Act. The said University Act has no conditions of territorial jurisdiction. But whether a UGC recognised university can give credence to credits awarded by a college which has no legal standing is a question for which we have no answer as of now.
In the meantime ICFAItech also attempted to gain deemed university status for the Hyderabad campus alone. But as the UGC order (displayed alongside) clearly shows that did not materialise.Click Here to Enlarge File
And they could not straight away declare these as off campus centres of the univeristy, because another extant regulation by UGC in 2003 explictly prevents it for the first five years.
While the quality of education they impart may be very good, a shaky foundation on which the legal validity of the campus and degree itself was built did ICFAItech in.
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| The regulatory net with a gaping hole |
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The above notification is by AICTE wherein it names some IBS' and INCs as running unapproved degree courses. And from 1995 onwards they were operating outside the purview of the regulatory regime. But for reasons best known to them, at some point all the IBSs began offering "academic support" to the MBA programme offered by ICFAI Univeristy, Dehradun. In plain language it means all these colleges have only the status of a tutorial college.
Why did a reputed brand like ICFAI consent to downgrade itself to the status of tutorial collges? The reasons lies in their need to give a recognised degree to their students and consequently a need to bypass another set of regulations.
The UGC regulations of 2003 are crystal clear. For the first five years of its existence a private university must have a unitary campus. No off site campues, no study centres.
But the DEC has no such restrictions. One fails to understand how a distance learning programme can function without study centres, which by the UGC notification is illegal for the first five years of private universities.Click Here to Enlarge File
Now it is this loop hole that ICFAI University seems to use. Its DL programmes are approved by DEC. So all it has to do is to claim that all INCs /Adam Smiths/Magnus institutions have no legal relationship with its Universities. They only act as coaching centres. So no law is broken.
In the PIL at Madras High Court this is what they argued. The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) Society has told the Madras High Court that it did not run any college as defined under Tamil Nadu Private Colleges (Regulation) Act 1976, and that it did not violate any statute in the state. And the ICFAI University, ruling out any fraud, said its Flexible Learning Programme was meant for students who appeared as private candidates. The Madras High Court did not accept this argument and ICFAI National colleges and ICFAI B-schools were asked to shut shop. ICFAI claims they would appeal to the Supreme Court.
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