As the National Education Policy (NEP) marks six years, one of its most ambitious promises is becoming a reality. What seemed aspirational in 2020, the establishment of foreign university campuses in India, is now taking shape. In June, the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission issued Letters of Approval to three more foreign universities to establish campuses in India, taking the total number of UGC-approved institutions to five, with several more already admitting students under separate regulatory tracks and others at various stages of the pipeline. The first campuses opened their doors in 2024 and 2025, and the newest cohort arrives this August, an important milestone envisioned under the NEP will have been achieved much sooner than many anticipated.(Sign up for THEdge, The Hindu’s weekly education newsletter.)The right question, however, is not how many campuses have arrived. It is what this milestone changes for the student.Join THEdge LinkedIn groupA foreign campus in India is the beginning of internationalisation, not its destination. The NEP never envisioned internationalisation as the presence of globally recognised names on Indian soil alone. Its ambition was far more transformative. It sought to build a higher education system that is globally engaged in what it teaches, who teaches it, the research it produces, and the confidence with which Indian graduates contribute to an increasingly interconnected world. A branch campus is one instrument of that vision, and perhaps the narrowest one. The first phase of the policy focused on creating the right regulatory framework. The next phase must ensure that the benefits of internationalisation reach every student, irrespective of where they study.The arithmetic of accessThe scale of India’s higher education system makes this imperative unmistakable. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023-24, released by the Ministry of Education earlier this month, India now enrols more than 4.5 crore students in higher education, making it one of the largest higher education systems in the world. The Gross Enrolment Ratio has risen to 30, while the NEP sets an ambitious target of 50 by 2035. Achieving this objective will require creating opportunities for millions more learners over the coming decade.Against this backdrop, the foreign university campuses now being established will educate only a small fraction of India’s higher education population. Their presence is significant and their influence may extend well beyond the students they directly teach. Yet internationalisation cannot remain the privilege of a relatively small number of learners attending a handful of institutions. Its true success will be measured by the quality of education experienced by the much larger number of students who will never study at one of these campuses.The more important question, therefore, is what these institutions can catalyse across India’s broader higher education ecosystem. There are several reasons to be optimistic.First, the arrival of these universities reflects growing confidence in India’s scale, talent pool, policy direction and long-term growth potential. Their global reputation can also make India a more attractive destination for international students, bringing greater diversity to our campuses and strengthening India’s aspiration of becoming a global education hub. The flow of international students into India is as important as the mobility of Indian students abroad. It enriches classrooms, broadens cultural understanding, creates lifelong global networks and enhances India’s academic standing.Second, the timing coincides with a significant shift in the way Indian families view international education. As per Bureau of Immigration data placed before the Rajya Sabha, just over six lakh Indian students went abroad to study in 2025, down from 7.70 lakh in 2024 and 9.08 lakh in 2023, a steady decline over three years. Visa polices have tightened, costs have risen, and the assumption that a world-class education necessarily requires leaving India is beginning to change. A generation that once viewed overseas education as the default pathway is now reassessing that choice. These students are not lowering their expectations. They are raising them. It is now the responsibility of Indian universities to deliver globally benchmarked education at home.Third, the system is not starting from scratch. Long before foreign universities established campuses in India, Indian institutions had already taken higher education beyond national borders by establishing campuses overseas, educating students from multiple nationalities, complying with international regulatory frameworks and competing for globally accomplished faculty. That experience demonstrates an important truth. Internationalisation is not defined by geography. It is defined by quality, collaboration and academic ambition. It lives in globally benchmarked curricula, internationally mobile faculty, collaborative research that addresses shared global challenges, and classrooms where students learn with and from peers representing different cultures and perspectives.Internationalisation must also prepare students for a global workforce. Academic excellence alone is no longer sufficient. Universities must create opportunities for industry collaboration, international internships, multidisciplinary projects and cross-border innovation so that graduates develop the skills, adaptability and global outlook increasingly valued by employers across the world. The objective is not merely to produce graduates who can compete internationally, but graduates who are capable of leading internationally.Internationalisation should also no longer be viewed as a one-way movement of students from India to the world. The next chapter must be about India becoming a net exporter of knowledge, talent and educational innovation. Indian institutions are already educating students across continents through overseas campuses, research partnerships and academic collaborations. The opportunity before us is to position India not merely as a participant in global higher education, but as one of its architects.The agenda for the next six yearsThis is the agenda that should guide the next phase of the NEP, and it applies to every university in the country, not only those that compete directly with the new foreign entrants. International peer review should become a regular feature of curriculum design and academic quality assurance. Faculty exchanges should become routine rather than exceptional. Joint degrees, collaborative research centres and shared laboratories should become integral to institutional strategy rather than occasional initiatives. India must also continue strengthening its position as a preferred destination for international students because a university truly becomes international only when knowledge, talent and ideas move in every direction.None of these ambitions requires a foreign name at the entrance of a campus. They require vision, institutional commitment and sustained investment over many years. This is how enduring universities are built.The entry of foreign universities should therefore not be viewed as competition between Indian and international institutions. It should be seen as an opportunity to elevate the quality and global standing of the entire higher education ecosystem. Indian universities have much to learn from international best practices in research, governance and innovation. Equally, the world has much to learn from India’s experience of educating one of the largest, youngest and most diverse student populations anywhere. The future of global higher education will increasingly be shaped through partnerships rather than competition, and India has every opportunity to become one of its defining contributors.For centuries, India attracted scholars from across the world to centres of learning such as Nalanda and Takshashila. The aspiration today is not to recreate history, but to renew that tradition for the twenty-first century by building universities that are globally respected, internationally connected and deeply rooted in India’s values and intellectual heritage.If the first six years of the NEP have been about opening India’s doors to the world, the next six must ensure that the world reaches every Indian classroom. Internationalisation should never be measured simply by the number of foreign campuses India hosts. It should be measured by whether every student, regardless of geography or institution, has access to an education that meets the highest global standards while remaining rooted in India’s aspirations. That will be the true measure of this reform, and the foundation of India’s emergence as a global knowledge leader.(Authored by Aseem Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University)