New UGC norms for students seeking degrees, diplomas

These recommendations provide the flexibility to offer Bachelor of Science degrees to non-science disciplines, the UGC chair said

A committee set up by the University Grants Commission to take a relook at the nomenclature of degrees has recommended that a student should be awarded the qualification, whether it is a certificate, diploma or degree, as soon as they earned the required number of credits, irrespective of the minimum duration of the programme.

Under the National Education Policy 2020, there is a provision for multiple entry and exit in higher education, and as per the National Credit Framework (NCrF), and the Curriculum and Credit Framework for Undergraduate Programmes (CCFUP), qualifications that could be awarded include an undergraduate certificate, undergraduate diploma, and postgraduate diploma.

The UGC had formed an expert committee to review the notification on the specification of degrees and suggest new degree nomenclature. Details of the recommendations were put out on the public domain by the higher education body on Thursday.

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The Committee has also recommended that the nomenclature of the “MPhil” degree be discontinued from the list of specified degrees. Delhi University had discontinued MPhil degrees from the 2022-23 academic year.

Significantly, the rules state that Bachelors of Science degrees be awarded to humanities, too, if the student completes the entire duration of the four-year honours degree. “A four-year undergraduate degree programme in any discipline may also have a Bachelor of Science abbreviated as BS as a specified nomenclature. This nomenclature shall apply to all disciplines like Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Management, Commerce etc,” the report states.

Degrees with honours will henceforth be known as BA/BCom/BSc (Honours), and those with research will be known as BA/BCom/BSc (Honours with Research). MSc degrees will be awarded to one-year and two-year programmes as well, across all disciplines.

Speaking to DH, UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said that these recommendations provide the flexibility to offer Bachelor of Science degrees to non-science disciplines. “These will enable students to complete a degree after earning the required credits and provide many more resources. Most importantly, this will enable students to complete their degree without linking it to the defined duration of the degree,” Kumar said.