The ministry of education has approved the scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for continuation till March 31, 2026 or till further review, whichever is earlier. 

RUSA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for funding the state government universities and colleges to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.

The proposal entails an expenditure of Rs 12,929.16 crore out of which the central share is Rs 8,120.97 crore and the state share is of Rs 4,808.19 crore. It has been envisaged to support around 1,600 projects under the new phase of the scheme.

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)

• Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) was approved in October 2013.

• It is an overarching scheme, operated in mission mode to provide strategic central funding to state higher education departments and institutions and achieve the broad objectives of access, equity and excellence.

• For general category states, the funding ratio is 60:40 between Centre and state. For special category states (Northeast states, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), the funding ratio is 90:10 and it is 100 per cent central grants for UTs without Legislature.

Objectives of RUSA are:

• Improve access, equity and quality in higher education through planned development of higher education at the state level. 

• Create new academic institutions, expanding and upgrading the existing ones, developing institutions that are self-reliant in terms of quality education, professionally managed, and characterised by greater inclination towards research and provide students with education that is relevant to them as well the nation as a whole.

• Usher in transformative reforms in the state higher education system by creating a facilitative institutional structure for planning and monitoring at the state level, promoting autonomy in state universities and improving governance in institutions.

• Ensure reforms in the affiliation, academic and examination systems.

• Ensure adequate availability of quality faculty in all higher educational institutions and promote capacity building at all levels of employment.

• Create an enabling atmosphere in the higher educational institutions to promote research and innovation.

• Correct the regional imbalances in terms of access to higher education by setting up institutions in unserved and underserved areas of the country

• Improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities of higher education to SC/STs and socially and educationally backward classes, promote inclusion of women, minorities, and differently abled persons.

New phase of RUSA

• The new phase of RUSA targets to reach out the unserved, underserved areas, remote and rural areas, difficult geographies, aspirational districts, tier-2 cities, areas with low Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), to benefit the most disadvantaged areas and SEDGs (Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups).

• It has been designed to implement some of the recommendations and aims of the New Education Policy, which suggests some key changes to the current higher education system to revamp and re-energize it and thereby deliver quality higher education, with equity and inclusion. 

• States will be supported for gender inclusion, equity initiatives, information and communications technology (ICT), enhancing employability through vocationalisation and skill upgradation. 

• States will also be supported for creation of new model degree colleges. 

• State universities will be supported for multi-disciplinary education and research.

• Grants will be provided for strengthening both accredited and non-accredited universities and colleges for undertaking various activities including teaching-learning in Indian languages.

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