Written by Dr Fr Jose C C and Jerush John Joseph
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With outbound student mobility growing at a compounded annual rate of 8.84% between 2016 and 2024, over 1.3 million Indian students are currently studying abroad, driving a massive capital outflow in tuition fees and living expenses. While popular opinion attributes this brain drain purely to the pursuit of prestigious foreign degrees, the underlying cause is structural: ambitious youth seek interdisciplinary flexibility, better research opportunities, and international networks that domestic systems have historically struggled to provide. To tackle this, India must move beyond the existing passive foreign partnerships towards an active "internationalisation at home." Leveraging the benefits of academic flexibility and adaptability, our private universities are uniquely positioned to spearhead this shift through three core pillars.
Building Integrated Mobility and Curricula
The institutional MOUs must give way to deeply embedded dual-degree programmes, scholar-in-residence initiatives, and joint faculty assignments that benefit all the stakeholders involved. When global academics co-teach modules on Indian campuses and credits flow seamlessly across borders, students gain authentic international exposure at a fraction of the cost. This keeps top-tier talent anchored in the domestic ecosystem while elevating the existing teaching standards.
Co-Funding High-Impact Translational R&D with the Private Sector Industries
World-class research should not remain confined to the laboratories of the developed countries. The recent Department of Science and Technology (DST) report from July 2026 projects that India’s Gross Expenditure on R&D was at 0.84% of GDP in 2023-2024 and is expected to reach 0.90% in 2025-2026. This is far behind countries like Brazil (1.19%), China (2.58) or the USA (3.45%). Another notable trend is the growth in R&D expenditure by the Private Sector industry from 32% in 2020-21 to 45% in 2023-24, surpassing public sector institutions and labs as the major participant in R&D investments. Private institutions must channel targeted capital into co-funded international research centres, giving undergraduate students direct access to deep-tech incubators, joint patents, and global publishing opportunities. Establishing these pipelines locally ensures that brilliant young researchers tackle pressing domestic challenges using world-class frameworks.
Securing Global Credibility and Accreditations
Degree portability is non-negotiable for today's youth who possess a global mindset. Acquiring international accreditations at the course level ensures that degrees conferred in India carry equal weight before multinational boards and top-tier global graduate schools. Transparent credit mobility reassures students who remain in India will not compromise their future career horizons.
Retaining top-tier talent is both an economic and strategic imperative. Capital currently leaving the country as outward education remittances could, if retained domestically, fuel local innovation ecosystems, venture incubators, and university infrastructure. Building global universities at home is not about isolating Indian students from the world, but it is about transforming domestic campuses into vibrant hubs where international ideas, diverse faculty, and ambitious minds intersect.
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The authors are Vice Chancellor and Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, respectively, at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), India. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.