Abstract:

Twenty-first centuries witnessed unprecedented demand for higher education: general as well as professional resulting in increased awareness among the people, particularly the students passing out of schools, of the vital importance of higher education for socio-cultural and economic development and for building the future. The Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) proved that India could produce world class talent in terms of technical professionals. The IITs have proved that by just providing world class technical education to a select 3 per cent of its applicants, it can still lead the world. Similarly, The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) graduates are ranked in the same league with products of Yale and Harvard Business Schools in terms of quality. Even as the government moves to open various sectors of the economy to foreign direct investment (FDI), opposition is gathering momentum among planners, educationists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the education sector and even industry against the idea. Fact remains that in 2007 Gross enrollment ratio (GER)in higher education was just 11% much below the world average of 25% while China and Japan have 22% and 54% respectively. Target of ensuring GER of 30% by 2010 requires not only huge but quality investments from Private Sector. This paper attempts to study the requirements and role of FDI and its impact on higher education by analyzing the demand and supply factors and suggest remedial measures for regulating bodies.

Keywords:

Higher Education, FDI, Regulating bodies, Economic Development.