New India Manifesto – Chapter 7 : Limitless Collegiate Education

Table of Contents

School and College Education

Allowing multiple boards such as ICSE, CBSE, state board, and international boards has shown us the state board’s vulnerability. State boards are placed at the lowest level in the hierarchy regarding quality. CBSE and ICSE students can perform better than their peers in state boards, which, in turn, influences their long-term career prospects. All students should receive the same quality education till the 12th level. Most of the schools in India should be institutions that provide free education. Only a single board should be allowed to provide India’s best education. Curriculum and knowledge-transmitting methods can be diverse for the same class level in different schools, but the board should be the same all over India.

In the current system, when the educational background, such as CBSE board education, is coupled with money, it is an immense disparity for poor children and a great advantage for the rich. Students from backward communities and economically downtrodden are denied opportunities in prestigious institutes in India for collegiate education due to their financial conditions and lower marks in entrance exams. The correction should start with public schools, which should provide the best quality education to all students irrespective of financial background. It will ensure that everyone has an equal chance of being admitted to the best colleges or courses.

Free education in colleges is hard to achieve, and building hundreds of colleges and funding it regularly for free is very difficult to achieve. A limited number of institutions are built by states and central government, which will solve the seats for only a small percentage of the student community.

More than 2 lakh students are willing to leave India yearly to get the best quality education from Western countries. They are eager to give up Indian citizenship to settle in those countries.

Limitless Collegiate Education

Limitless Collegiate Education, also called LCE, is a paid college education system providing opportunities for all economic classes and to provide courses of their choice.

A system should be developed to provide quality school education to the general population for free, whereas college education should be a paid system. Education loans should be provided to all by removing all restrictions, and poor students should also be able to earn while they learn.

Courses like MBBS are available only to a small percentage of individuals who can afford them. This outlines the importance of a platform that provides opportunities to all students and is affordable to all, irrespective of economic status.

LCE provides opportunities to all students in India, irrespective of age, caste, religion, and economic status, and provides access to diverse courses all over India. Students will be provided opportunities in the form of part-time jobs to fund their tuition fees, food and accommodation. Providing a part-time job does not mean that part-time employment can pay the total tuition fees. The main intention is to fund students’ accommodation and food expenses and provide additional pocket money. Students can pay off a part of their tuition money from the remaining amount. However, a large part of tuition fees will remain unpaid. Once the student is employed after graduation, it will be collected from the student in smaller instalments.

Objectives of LCE

A. Provide Diverse Location Accessibility for Different Types of Courses

Specific high-tier courses and colleges are currently limited to particular places such as metro cities. LCE can break that barrier and provide these courses even in rural areas. In patriarchal societies, girl students are not allowed to travel large distances for education. So, girl students are forced to take admission in nearby colleges which do not provide courses of their choice. LCE can offer courses even in most rural parts of India, ensuring that boys and girls can learn whatever they want. LCE can create diverse courses within a 200 km range of students’ homes, and moving to metro cities for education can be reduced.

B. Provide a Wide Range of Choices

There is a widespread educational limitation in India that limits students’ choices due to limited seats. As a result, a student decides to join a particular course and ends up in a course in which they have no interest. Low ranking in 12th exams and low ranking in entrance exams is the primary reason students end up in these unintended courses. LCE can provide opportunities for all students without needing a reservation or merit quota system.

C. Reform Existing Low-Quality Colleges

The government will stop funding colleges supporting non-job-oriented courses in aided colleges. Under the LCE system, the government can take over such existing colleges.

D. Provide Full Placement

All the students who complete graduation from the LCE system will have job accessibility and job placement if students wish to have it. In addition, the money generated from LCE itself can generate employment for a part of the student community.

E. Earn While Learning Opportunity

In India, there has never been an organised attempt to provide opportunities to students for part-time jobs. However, part-time opportunities will be provided to the rich and poor alike. Anyone interested in making money can participate in these jobs and fund their educational expenses.

F. Course Diversity and Specialisation

Since all the courses are job oriented, there will be a high level of specialisation and course diversity. In addition, the curriculum and course will be upgraded annually according to market demand.

G. Create an Education-based Economy

A new gig economy and widespread economic opportunities for the nation can be developed from the LCE system. In addition to the gig economy created by part-time jobs, the LCE can potentially create largescale full-time jobs via National Employment System.

H. Provide Collateral-free Loan

The loans provided under LCE are collateral free and insured, making the loan the student’s sole responsibility. Therefore, the student’s family need not suffer the burden of repayment and need not worry about losing the property.

I. Increasing Inward Remittance

Currently, students leaving India are causing huge outward foreign remittances. A per cent of total seats can be provided for international students from other countries, and two to five times the tuition fees can be charged from them, which will provide inward foreign remittance.

Introduce highly qualified professionals as foreign faculty using labour drafting. Foreign faculty can be paid hefty fees and introduced in colleges for a short period. Once the first batch of students completes education, foreign faculty can be slowly replaced by native faculty.

Limitless Collegiate Education and Integrated Long-term Courses Model

Limitless Collegiate Education refers to a model that does not limit the aspirations and ambitions of the student community. Anyone aspiring to a particular degree course can join this course if they have minimal requirements. The requirement of finance does not limit the dreams of students.

Integrating Courses

The first requirement for the LCE model to work is to create a long-term course of a minimum five years range. Integrating bachelor’s and master’s programmes is the first requirement.

11th Standard

During the 11th standard, students should be distributed with a course curriculum of various types of courses. The student can choose the location and course. Once the course is chosen, the student should be provided with a basic test of the coursework and will have the same cut-off with unlimited chances till the 12th final exams. If the student needs to withdraw from the course, the student can withdraw before the 12th final exam.

Model Courses and LCE College Creation

Consider a scenario where an integrated sociology degree will have new areas such as statistics, basic computer programming and digital training classes for software like R, SPSS, and STATA. The existing areas of sociology will be continued as part of the course. In addition, international indices and index creation using social surveys and primary and secondary data collection methods will be integral to the syllabus. Along with these new ideas, different social science and sociology branches will be included for an interdisciplinary approach.

A curriculum material created adding these points will be distributed among students in Ujjain schools. The course is promised under a national university regulated by the central government to increase its appealing value. Consider that there are 50 students in the integrated sociology programme in Ujjain. Integrated programmes in history, criminology, gerontology and political science will have a similar approach and will have another 50 each. Now the total number of students is 250. So, College A in Ujjain has a strength of 250 students at the start of college.

Fifty per cent of students can be guaranteed a campus placement job in the LCE colleges. The remaining students can secure jobs under National Employment System. The base salary of the jobs under these courses can be mentioned as 50,000. The pay may increase according to the potential of the person. If the student’s educational loan is 5 lakhs, the repayment amount at the lowest interest rate will be less than 10 lakhs for a 12-year tenure. After graduation, within few years, even if 20 per cent of the salary is allocated for repayment, it is easy to repay and close the loan. Instead of allowing banks to profit by allowing larger interest loans, the government should cut down banks’ interest rates for education loans to 2 per cent, and the government will keep the remaining per cent interest rate. The government will process the loan documentation via an online website, and the nearest nationalised bank will only work as issuing authority. If banks are not accepting this offer, create an education loan bank in India that can take the whole interest per cent. The 2 per cent intended for banks can be given to the new bank, and government can keep the remaining amount.

Generally, in India, the banks release the funds for education loans when students make a tuition fee payment request, either annually or semester-by-semester, depending on the interval selected by institutions. This means the money is not released in one go. However, for the integrated long-term courses model of LCE to work, the total course funds will be released to the institution together. Therefore, if the student drops the course midway, the amount till the already studied semester will be calculated, and the student will be relieved of the remaining amount. If students are dropping the course in the first six months of the course, then they need not pay back the loan. This option will be available for economically backward communities.

When the payment is advanced based on seat calculation of 250 students, the students are in class XI, and the physical structure of the college is not in existence. It will complete construction only when the students complete the 12th standard exams. So, the college and university will only exist virtually initially.

The calculations are based on a five-year programme for five-year period.

Student fee of Batch 2024 July – 2029 March – [per semester 50,000 – per year 1,00,000] Total amount for five years 5,00,000
Student fee of Batch 2025 July – 2030 March – [per semester 55,000 – per year 1,10,000] Total amount for five years 5,50,000
Student fee of Batch 2026 July – 2031 March – [per semester 60,000 – per year 1,20,000] Total amount for five years 6,00,000
Student fee of Batch 2027 July – 2032 March – [per semester 65,000 – per year 1,30,000] Total amount for five years 6,50,000
Student fee of Batch 2028 July – 2033 March – [per semester 70,000 – per year 1,40,000] Total amount for five years 7,00,000

According to inflation, the fee amount also can be increased. Therefore, the base salary for students in campus placement will also increase accordingly every year.

The total tuition fees are advanced to College A. Consider every year, 250 students join the college.

Amount with the College A in 2024 when started with 250 students – 5,00,000 * 250 = 12,50,00,000 (12.5 crores)
Additional amount with the College A in 2025 with 250 new students – 5,50,000* 250 = 13,75,00,000 (13.75 crores)
Additional amount with College A in 2026 with 250 new students – 6,00,000* 250 = 15,00,00,000 (15 crores)
Additional Amount with the College A in 2027 with 250 new students – 6,50,000* 250 = 16,25,00,000 (16.25 crores)
Additional amount with College A in 2028 with 250 new students – 7,00,000* 250 = 17,50,00,000 (17 crores)

So, the total amount with College A in five years from education loans = 12.5 crores + 13.75 crores + 15 crores + 16.25 crore + 17 crores = 74.5 crores

First, purchase property and build a college to accommodate 250 students by government advancing the amount that students will pay in future as education loans. One acre of additional property will be purchased along with the rest of the acres of college for the college’s employment arm, which will be explained later. The cost can be estimated at 20 crores, including hostel accommodation facilities, running expenses, etc.

In the next four years, the government will spend five crores each to expand the college to accommodate 250 upcoming students. By applying honour enhancement in the construction sector, the labour of the job will be exclusively distributed to the students as part-time jobs. Depending on the college’s location, the contractor should compulsorily hire them under an hourly pay fixed by the government, such as 80-120 rupees per hour. A minimum of 100 hours should be allowed per student per month. In addition, students will receive jobs in the cafeteria, inside the campus grocery store, 24X7 library, campus gardening and other works. The remaining part-time jobs required for students will be allocated via the EAC centre as caretakers, surveyors, and public works. Along with that, private shops and companies can hire students via EAC.

Total money collection in 5 years = 74.5 crores

Construction Cost for five years = 20 crores* + 20 crores = 40 crores

Working expenditure, including salary – 15 crore for five years

For the remaining 19.5 crores, the government can find ways to generate employment for the students after graduation. Even if construction costs increase by ten crores and reach 50 crores, 9.5 crores will remain with the LCE.

In this model, the government owns the college, which has not invested a single rupee from its pocket. Instead, the government advanced the money as a loan to College A students and the college’s financial resources are efficiently utilised to develop the college by the government. As a result, in five years, the college will be developed to accommodate 1250 students.

Interest amount from loan repayment will add another 40+ crore. The government is keeping a significant portion of this amount instead of giving it to banks, and the amount gained from interest can be given to that particular LCE college employment arm that generated that amount.

Parents who can afford fees can make the payment annually or semester-wise. Students who pay fees without loans can also be allotted a part-time job like other students.

The details mentioned only include cash at the end of 5 years. However, the financial responsibility towards students varies according to year of joining. For example, the student paying upfront in 2028 must be supported until 2033. Since new students joins each year, the additional amount gained yearly can be used to roll the expenses. Money that will be received in future will be used to fund existing costs.

Hostel Accommodation Profits

Students can add hostel accommodation and food expenses as part of their education loans or work part-time jobs to earn money.

The amount received from hostel accommodation facility by colleges [4000 per student for one month] = 48,000 per year
The amount received from the canteen [ 6000 per student for one month] = 72,000 per year

Total expense for accommodation and food for one student per year in 2024-25 in College A = 48,000 + 72,000 = 1,20,000

A 5 per cent price rise in food and accommodation can be added annually.

Total income of College A from food and accommodation in 2024-25 academic period for 250 students = 1,20,000 * 250 = 3,00,00,000
Total income of College A from food and accommodation in the 2025-26 academic period for 500 students with a 5 per cent price increase compared to the previous year = 1,26,000 * 500 = 6,30,00,000
Total income of College A from food and accommodation in the 2026-27 academic period for 750 students with a 5 per cent price increase compared to the previous year = 132300 * 750 = 9,92,25,000
Total income of College A from food and accommodation in the 2027-28 academic period for 1000 students with a 5 per cent price increase compared to the previous year = 138915 * 1000 = 13,89,15,000
Total income of College A from food and accommodation in 2028-29 academic period for 1250 students with 5 per cent price increase compared to the previous year = 145861 * 1250 = 18,23,26,250

Total income of College A during the period 2024 – 2029 from hostel accommodation and food = 3,00,00,000 + 6,30,00,000 + 9,92,25,000 + 13,89,15,000 + 18,23,26,250 = 513466250, i.e. 51.34 crore

Profit for college profit can be rounded to 40 per cent, i.e. 20 core of the total amount received after all expenses by the canteen and hostel facilities.

The profit of 20 crores in a five-year duration should be utilised in generating part-time jobs for the students. The job opportunities created should be within a 20 km radius of the campus.

These amounts will be less than above as many students will stay outside campus. However, LCE colleges will encourage students to stay at hostels.

The student loan amount will not initially include food and accommodation expenses. LCE and NES will ensure students earn enough from part-time jobs to pay these bills. However, they can add this to the loan amount if they require it. If they fail in any semester, this additional loan amount will be cancelled for future semesters.

Twin Arm of LCE College

LCE college is developed based on a twin-arm concept that has never been experimented with.

Every college will be established as a private company, not a public college owned by the government.

The college will have two arms: the regular college management arm and the employment arm. The total funds received by the college are split into these two divisions as decided in the private college agreement created by the government.

A. College Management Arm

The college management arm will get enough funds to manage the college as any other private college, and this arm is responsible for paying investors and shareholders of the college. The faculty salary payment and college maintenance are all the responsibility of this arm.

B. Employment Arm

The employment arm will be built alongside the college campus. It is built on the additional one acre collected for each college. It has an extreme level of specialisation within this arm.

B1. Part-time Jobs for Students: It will assist students in getting part-time jobs and helps in connecting with the national employment system. It will also solve all issues concerning part-time jobs provided within the campus. The employment arm will also create caretaker agencies and similar mini-private companies supplying students with various requirements nearby.

B2. Campus Placement and Employment Creation: This arm is responsible for helping all students who cleared the course from this college to assist them in finding jobs in the private sector and MNCs and also making new avenues for jobs. Each subject faculty and students will contribute ideas to each domain to modify the curriculum and upgrade their syllabus yearly to make it more career oriented. The arm will create jobs inside the structures, virtual world and internationally. The arm will have access to the most advanced software, gadgets and technologies and will also engage in developing software to meet future needs.

Consider the following example.

A particular LCE student can study a specific social problem in Argentina, and the employment arm will fund the person to visit Argentina and present the idea to their government. If the person can convince them, they may get a grant from multilateral agencies or funding from the government of that country. The employment arm will have contact with the company registration offices, Indian government agencies and all required facilities to convince that the person is credible. So before the person pitches the idea to another national government or company in another country, the employment arm will create a profile for that person. By implementing this, we can get remittances from other countries and sell our software and technologies to solve their problems.

The most significant benefit of this example is that a new avenue is created artificially instead of relying on the existing job market.

Startup initiatives will also be promoted via the employment arm, and the government will assist with background support, such as documentation support and importing technological items at lower prices. The government will also help increase the reach of startups via the employment arm. The employment arm will provide small initial funding by taking a small share per cent of the startup.

B3. Interconnected Bonding System: All students in this college will also be members of the employment arm and work in an interconnected bonding system. Each individual can make this a pitching platform for creating new ideas and helping others. So, it will be another family for the students where they can ensure that all students who finish graduation are employed till they want to be employed. It is subject-based groupings within the system, with no junior-senior difference. Each course will have its group. The ideas from this group will be incorporated into the upgraded syllabus annually. The bonding will also help unemployed students find jobs, and there is mutual support within this platform.

B4. Spread Funding: The funds will be spread over various students based on annual allocation rather than based on a few ideas for a few students.

Losses amounted due to investment failures should not stop the employment arm. In case of losses, it should be rationally and logically explainable and not a result of corruption or extravagant spending.

B5. Funding for Long-term Research: Government will directly fund two individuals selected from one LCE college who completed graduation for long-term research projects. The government will bear five years of food and accommodation expenses and provide a small stipend for travelling and other expenses. The government will also provide financial support to purchase machineries and equipment’s. If the amount is above capped government limit government will create a path in which a person can access such equipment’s at another location. Only two individuals from the whole college will get this opportunity in a year, and the funding is for research. In the case of scientific innovations by researchers, the government will provide shared patent ownership and a large share for the application and distribution of the innovations and discoveries. In the case of social scientists and commerce experts, if they can be applied in public policies and helps in the progress of the nation, then a large grant one-time amount will be provided to researchers for providing the ideas. The researchers are not receiving funds from the spread funding section of LCE’s employment arm and are funded directly by the government. However, they are accountable to the various inspection mechanisms of the employment arm of LCE.

Fund Generation of LCE Colleges

The following methods can create additional funds for the LCE college.

Private Investment: By making private companies invest in this model government can generate additional revenue from each LCE college. 40 crore college project can fetch a minimum of 120 crores as an investment. Without losing control of ‘College A’ government can make about 60 crores. The investment amount should not affect the job-making financial allocation of the institution. One hundred per cent of the tuition fees of NRI and overseas students and 20 per cent of the tuition fees of all students can be provided as profits to investors and owners. This method can be used in raising initial investment. Any private individual or company can invest using this route.

FDI: Any foreign government or foreign entity can invest via this route. Western countries should be invited to invest in this model. The profit-sharing model will be clearly explained to all investors.

Non-resident Income Channelling: Non-residents are compulsorily required to invest a small per cent of income earned abroad, and this compulsory investment can be made as a small share purchase in these institutions.

Share market trading: The government can initiate divestment and disinvestment to raise money. IPO and other routes should be promoted. Later on, people can transfer and trade shares. The initial investment money can be above three times, whereas the share divestment or disinvestment can raise more than that.

College A can easily fetch above 100 crores for 49 per cent of shares. A portion of this collected amount will be provided to the employment arm, and the remaining will be used to create new LCE colleges.

LCE Late Start Method

Every LCE batch will be started one month late than other colleges. During this one month, all student’s basic IT skills, Math skills, and English language skills will be tested initially, and the students whose performance is below average will get one month of free classes to upgrade their skills. This is compulsory for students who underperform. During this period, such students will get a college grant to stay at hostel facilities and should not go for part-time jobs at this period. This one-month special class is to create a level playing field in LCE colleges.

Private Tutoring System

Every student in LCE college will have their profile on the college website. Once every 30 days, an email will be sent to the students requesting to complete a form. Students will be asked to rate their understanding of various subjects taught till that time. A private tutor will be allocated to the student if the rating is below specific points. Private tutoring groups will have less than five students, and students will get 1-2 hour extra classes to understand the subject thoroughly. The cost of private tutoring will be borne by LCE college. Students can also mass report a college professor via their profile if they feel the teaching quality is poor. The identity of students will not be disclosed, and an external agency will have access to that information and will reevaluate the faculty member. If many students are rating their understanding of a subject as below specific points, then the external agency will automatically interfere in the quality assessment of the teacher.

Private tutoring can also be availed without reporting the tutor to understand the topic further.

After Graduation Job Guarantee

Students will not deliver their full potential if it is told that there will be a 100 per cent job guarantee. So only 50 per cent of students will be offered guaranteed placement through opportunities provided by the system, which is the optimal rate. However, the skills the students develop during this period and employment arm will help them get other options that will help in attaining 100 per cent job placement.

Faculty and Staff

A renewable yearly contract system will be implemented to ensure quality is maintained. However, there is no guarantee of permanency in the job, and it will ensure all faculty members perform well.

Open-access Course Support

The students currently studying in colleges will support online and offline students joining in open access, providing part-time job opportunities to LCE students.

Revamp of Existing Colleges

Creating LCE will push many existing colleges into the loss zone. Taking over those colleges by paying upfront or taking a majority stake is essential for faster implementation of LCE colleges nationwide. Moreover, many will leave the traditional college system since students are offered part-time jobs and high-skilled courses. As a result, there will be a total restructuring in collegiate education in India.

Bridge Courses

As part of course upgradation, bridge courses can be introduced to accommodate different age groups who want to make an educational comeback. Classrooms can be added to existing LCE buildings for bridge courses. In addition, loans can be arranged for the students. However, part-time jobs can be allocated for bridge course students only after regular students in LCE are fully accommodated under part-time jobs.

Fully Paid LCE Colleges

Limitless Collegiate Education is intended to provide opportunities for all students. Some students are not interested in part-time jobs and have parental support in paying hostel and tuition fees. Upper-middle-class and above parents can pay the whole amount to college. New colleges can be built based on assurances from these parents and students based on the course they opt for in school education in class XI. An advance amount can be collected, which will be considered in allocating seats. This amount can be later adjusted with the fees. Job placement and all other aspects will be the same as above mentioned College A.

The Trust of the Public and the Promise of the Government

LCE colleges are not prebuilt colleges and are promised colleges by the central government that will be functional soon. Therefore, 3D model architecture and all the plans should be released for each LCE college, and the government will follow that model to raise people’s trust in believing this system. Each step will be based on a schedule, and the government will ensure the plan is followed correctly.

The state-level universities should not be allowed to control such colleges as people may have higher trust in a central-level university. So national-level universities will be created before the construction of LCE colleges. Such interventions are essential for ensuring public confidence in all LCE colleges.

Special Note: This is the seventh chapter of the book New India Manifesto by Blessen T. Sam. The concepts introduced in this book are unique, and referencing the book and the author is appreciated. Support the hard work of the author to modernise India by purchasing a print copy of the book from Amazon or Flipkart. For research collaborations, contact the author at blessentsam@gmail.com.