University of Western Australia becomes first international university to open campus in Chennai

CHENNAI: The University of Western Australia (UWA), the first international university to set up campus in the State, began its orientation programme at its Velachery campus on Monday after obtaining the final approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC).

UWA has opened admissions for its Chennai and Mumbai campuses, with regular classes at the Chennai campus scheduled to begin on October 19.

The Chennai campus will offer four undergraduate programmes in Business Management, Computer Science, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence. At the postgraduate level, it will offer programmes in Information Technology and an MBA.

With the Chennai and Mumbai campuses, UWA has two international campuses in India, giving students an opportunity to pursue its programmes without having to travel abroad.

The opening of the Chennai campus comes under the UGC's framework allowing foreign universities to establish campuses in India. The UGC had announced the move in 2022, and subsequently introduced the framework through the UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023.

Under the regulations, eligible foreign universities, including those ranked among the world's top 500, can establish campuses in India with academic and administrative autonomy. They are given flexibility in determining admission criteria, fee structures and curricula, subject to UGC regulations.

The initiative is aimed at expanding access to international higher education within India. Thousands of Indian students travel abroad every year for higher education, incurring substantial tuition, accommodation and other living expenses. The presence of foreign university campuses in India is expected to provide students an opportunity to pursue internationally recognised programmes without the costs associated with studying overseas.

UWA's Chennai campus is therefore expected to provide students in the city and surrounding regions access to an Australian university's programmes without requiring them to leave the country.