New NAAC model to replace 30-year-old accreditation framework

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) will introduce a restructured accreditation system for higher education institutions starting in August, replacing its 30-year-old model with a more tech-driven, transparent approach.

The new system will rely heavily on artificial intelligence and digital verification, moving away from traditional field visits and multi-point grading.

The upcoming framework will classify institutions under a binary outcome: 'Accredited' or 'Not Accredited.'

NAAC Chairman Professor Anil Sahasrabudhe said the change is designed to improve efficiency and eliminate long-standing concerns over credibility.

“Until now only 40% of Indian universities and 18% of colleges are accredited. With this reform, we target over 90% of higher education institutions across the country in the next five years to come forward and get accredited,” he said.

The system will offer two types of assessment: a basic accreditation and a more advanced, graded maturity-based structure.

In the basic version, peer review visits have been completely removed, addressing concerns around manipulation and lack of transparency.

“The earlier model assessed nearly 90 parameters, with 70% supported by documented proof and 30% evaluated through peer team visits,” said Sahasrabudhe.

“However, the visits often led to complications and concerns over credibility. As a result, the new system eliminates physical visits for basic accreditation, shifting entirely to document-based verification,” Sahasrabudhe added.

To verify submitted data, NAAC will engage a randomly selected group of around 100 stakeholders, including retired vice-chancellors, academics, industry professionals, NGO representatives, and administrators.

Their responses to AI-generated questions will be used to assign institutions a credibility score ranging between 0 and 1.

Each applicant will begin with a default score of 0.5, which will increase or decrease depending on the accuracy of the documents submitted.

“This is our uniquely developed method for validating data through stakeholder feedback. We follow a principle of trusting but verifying. If an institution submits false documents, its score will drop, and if misconduct is confirmed, institutions could be barred from the accreditation process for up to three years,” he added.

AI will also monitor the credibility of the reviewers to ensure fair assessment. Institutions failing to meet minimum credibility benchmarks will not receive accreditation.

The thresholds vary: 50% for universities, 45% for autonomous colleges, and 40% for affiliated colleges.

Institutions that qualify under the basic model will become eligible for the maturity-based accreditation system, which features five levels, Level 1 through Level 5, each with a more detailed set of evaluation criteria.

“In the maturity-based system, both the number and complexity of evaluation parameters will rise at each level,” the NAAC chairman said.

“For instance, a university that qualifies under the basic system with 55 parameters may need to meet between 80 and 100 parameters to progress to higher levels. We are currently refining the specific benchmarks for each level in the maturity-based system,” the chairman added.

Physical verifications will be reintroduced from Level 3 onward but will follow a hybrid format combining online reviews with on-site visits to maintain transparency while limiting the scope for influence.

The updated system also allows foreign universities with campuses in India to apply for accreditation, aligning the process with the broader goals of the National Education Policy 2020.

The overhaul is based on recommendations from a high-level committee led by former ISRO chief Dr K Radhakrishnan, appointed by the Ministry of Education in November 2022 to reform NAAC’s structure.

The reforms aim to expand institutional participation, restore trust in the accreditation process, and set a roadmap for continuous academic growth.