How To Identify 'out Of Focus' Colleges

By Author: jaya
Total Articles: 2
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Have you ever seen colleges like IITs, NITs, IIMs involving into intensive marketing and branding campaigns? Wonder what can be the factors to identify good brands and to identify colleges surviving on marketing:

1) Frequent ADs on television: TV air time is so expensive, it will reflect on high semester fee. Students will have to bear the massive cost of branding activity and marketing expense.

2) Direct Calls from Colleges/ Universities: If you receive direct call from any college or University, you should be alert as reputed colleges do not go door to door. Reputed colleges have their own importance in the market.

3) Teachers as Admission Agents: Now it is becoming very common to use teacher as a admission agent. During summer break, they use teachers as their admission agents. Careful observation will reveal that most of the colleges have given stiff targets to teachers to induct students. One can imagine the quality of teachers who involve in marketing campaigns, outstation tours, giving and taking commissions for admission. This is another trait of colleges that run education as a business.

4) ...
... More than one campus: It has been observed during past 5-10 years that many education groups are rapidly creating infrastructure in various cities. They thrive on either subsidized/ cheap land in far flung areas. Colleges are investing on real estate rather than on faculty development. There are quality issues reported by students in various forums particularly from non-main campus. Since there is no organized way to raise voice against the pathetic state of colleges, the forthcoming batches/ students easily fall prey to them.

5) Colleges-turned-into-Universities: This is another category of colleges who become independent by becoming University. Have you ever wondered that most of the students in private Universities pass with high scores? If there is no strict control of a strong governing body on day to day operations, colleges/ Universities are bound to become independent to the extent of getting corrupt. Students who could not score even 5% marks in national level tests graduates with laurels from private Universities.

Appeal to Government:

There are few vital points where Government should immediately focus:

1) Giving approval to new Universities

2) National level exit test of Engineers and Doctors before giving them degrees

3) Regulating the number of seats in each branch to provide quality education

4) Strict parameters to judge quality of education

5) Should ban the arbitrary fee structure