Imagine paying lakhs in tuition fees, choosing a university based on its high National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) rating, and discovering later that the grades were bought, not earned. That’s the grim reality for thousands of students today.
For years, students and parents have relied on the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) to separate the wheat from the chaff in India’s sprawling higher education system. An ‘A++’ or ‘A’ grade was seen as a golden stamp of quality, a sign that a university was academically sound, well-resourced, and trustworthy.
But a recent revelation has shattered that illusion — nearly 900 NAAC assessors have been removed for allegedly manipulating grades, exposing a deep-rooted corruption scandal that could shake the very foundation of India’s accreditation system. This comes in light of the development from earlier this month when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested officials from Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF) and NAAC in connection with a bribery case. The allegations raised include offering undue advantages to public servants in exchange for favourable NAAC ratings, specifically for A++ accreditation
A broken system?
At the heart of the controversy lies the allegation that NAAC’s grading process is neither transparent nor entirely merit-based. Institutions flaunt their NAAC rankings as a badge of excellence, influencing thousands of students to make crucial decisions about their higher education.
However, revelations of possible grade manipulation have raised alarm bells.
Eldho Mathews, Programme Officer (Internationalisation of Higher Education) at the Kerala State Higher Education Council, stressed the need for complete transparency in the accreditation process.
“Actually, the solution lies in making the entire process public. Who evaluated the institution? That should be part of the disclosure. Because, if you look at India’s top institutions in global rankings, you will notice an anomaly — some of the country’s best institutions are ranked lower than mediocre private universities,” he explained.
Mathews emphasised that the entire process is data-driven, making it vulnerable to manipulation.
Furthermore, he highlighted how misleading rankings distort the choices students make. “Universities aggressively market their NAAC grades to attract students, but there is no clear accountability. Even placement statistics can be manipulated. The government must enforce stricter monitoring, compelling institutions to publish genuine faculty profiles and data on their official websites,” he said.
Over 900 assessors dismissed — A rotten core?
The scale of the corruption is staggering.
Achal Agrawal, founder of Indian Research Watchdog revealed that 900 assessors — out of a total of 5,000 — have been dismissed due to irregularities. “That’s nearly 20% of NAAC assessors,” Agrawal noted and added, “This isn’t about a few isolated cases. When one in five evaluators is compromised, it suggests systemic rot rather than mere oversight.”
Agrawal further pointed out that concerns about NAAC’s integrity were not new.
“The government had announced scrutiny of universities that experienced sudden grade jumps back in mid-2023. The investigation has taken nearly two years to culminate in the current crackdown. This is not a knee-jerk reaction to a single bribery case; the issue has been festering for a long time,” he said.
Students at risk — Should NAAC be scrapped?
Beyond institutional reputation, the scandal’s biggest victims are students. With universities heavily advertising their NAAC grades as a mark of excellence, many students and parents place immense trust in these rankings. Now, with the credibility of these grades in question, the very foundation of informed decision-making in higher education is under threat.
Agrawal proposes a radical solution: “Perhaps it’s time to scrap NAAC entirely. The discrepancies are too deep-rooted, and the trust deficit is too wide. Universities should not be allowed to use NAAC grades for advertising until the system is reformed. Otherwise, students will continue to be misled.”
A call for overhaul
The unfolding scandal has put immense pressure on the government and education regulators to act swiftly.
While incremental reforms have been promised, experts argue that merely tweaking NAAC’s structure may not be enough. The magnitude of alleged corruption and inefficiency calls for a complete overhaul — if not a replacement — of India’s accreditation system.
As Agrawal claimed, “Things are so bad that salvaging NAAC may be harder than building a new system from scratch. The future of millions of students depends on an accreditation process that is beyond reproach.”
