The Nizam College, an iconic institution in Hyderabad, is set to become a university.
Set up in 1887, it will become a full-fledged university by 2017, the end of 12th five year plan. A nod to this effect has come from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
The NAAC, an autonomous institution of University Grants Commission (UGC), based in Delhi, has identified 45 higher education institutes in the country and gave them “A” grade, which enables them to grant degrees, a power till now reserved for universities alone.
Nizam College has been selected as it fulfils the criteria set by the UGC. Being autonomous, having accredited grade
A by NAAC and having the status of “College of Potential Excellence” are the three criteria set up by the UGC.
There are total 16 Central and State Universities in city including Hyderabad Central University, Osmania University, N.G Ranga Agricultural University, Maulana Azad National Urdu University and Ambedkar University.
It is the policy initiative of the UGC in accordance with the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhyan(RUSA), a program which seeks to convert autonomous colleges into Universities.
According to UGC officials, there a total 441 autonomous colleges in 84 Universities spread over 21 States. Of these, 45 have been awarded status of college of potential excellence and accredited with grade A from NAAC.
By getting this authority from NAAC now, Nizam college can award the degrees to its students.
Nizam College is one of the oldest and esteemed institutions of higher education in South India. Established in 1887, it was affiliated to Madras University for 60 years from its inception.
Later, on 19 February, 1947 it got affiliated to Osmania University. It was given autonomous status in 1989. It has 29 departments, 10,000 students out of which around 2000 are foreign students.
