Fake accreditations in education sector: India’s higher education system, with over 1,000 universities and more than 3,000 business schools, is the cornerstone of the nation’s development ambitions. As families scramble for quality education, institutions chase accreditations from bodies like the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), and international giants such as the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Association of MBAs (AMBA), and EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). These stamps of approval signal quality and credibility.
But in the race to stand out in a crowded marketplace, a troubling trend has emerged: some schools are misrepresenting their credentials, passing off mere memberships as full-blown accreditations. Add to that the recent suspension of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for 2025, ordered by the Madras High Court over transparency concerns, and India’s education system finds itself in the midst of a serious credibility crisis, with students, families, and the country’s global reputation at risk.
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Accreditation and institutional credibility
Accreditation is no small feat. Take AACSB, for instance — it is a rigorous process that assesses everything from faculty qualifications to student outcomes. As of February 2025, only 22 Indian business schools had earned AACSB accreditation which is a minuscule fraction of the total.
NAAC assigns grades from A++ to C based on comprehensive institutional audits, while NBA focuses specifically on technical programs. Membership, by contrast, is merely a preliminary step—pay a fee, sign up, and you are in, with no quality checks. Yet some institutions exploit this, turning it into a deceptive marketing tactic. A business school in Pune, for example, might advertise AACSB affiliation on its website, banking on the fact that prospective students and parents will not know the difference. A school in Bengaluru recently claimed AMBA membership as if it were equivalent to accreditation, though it had never undergone the required vetting.
The NIRF meltdown
Amid intense competition for admissions, rankings like NIRF add fuel to the fire. But NIRF itself is now under scrutiny. In March 2025, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court halted its 2025 rankings following a public interest litigation (PIL) by C. Chellamuthu of Dindigul. He alleged that the NIRF system – reliant on self-reported, unverified data — is ripe for manipulation, misleading students in the process.
The court’s interim stay, issued on March 21, 2025, has sparked a national debate on how India measures educational quality. A hearing is scheduled for April 24, and until then, the rankings are frozen—exposing major cracks in the framework that many institutions rely on to attract students.
Examples of misrepresentation
These issues are not hypothetical. In 2023, a Hyderabad business school promoted its EQUIS-recognised status, leading families to spend Rs 10–15 lakh on its MBA programme. It was later revealed that the institution was only a member, not accredited. Graduates found themselves shut out of top firms and foreign universities.
In another case, a university in Uttar Pradesh claimed NAAC A+ status in 2022, despite holding only a B grade. Students enrolled, drawn by the misleading claim, until media investigations uncovered the truth. A 2024 exposé revealed over 50 institutions from Tamil Nadu to Gujarat falsely advertising accreditations or using forged certificates. The University Grants Commission has named some of these institutions online, but the problem continues to fester.
NIRF’s data problem
NIRF’s flaws further compound the situation. Chellamuthu’s PIL pointed to institutions gaming the rankings through inflated faculty numbers, phantom research grants, and other dubious tactics. Unlike NAAC, which deploys expert teams to verify claims, NIRF simply accepts submissions at face value.
One college in Karnataka, for example, soared in the 2024 NIRF rankings despite data inconsistencies with its NAAC audit—raising red flags among educationists. Such manipulation allows savvy marketers to climb the ranks, while sidelining genuinely reputed state universities. The Madras High Court’s intervention has brought these concerns into sharp relief.
Fake accreditations: Human cost of fraud
For many families, this is not just bureaucratic mischief, it is a devastating blow. Imagine a labourer’s family in Rajasthan pooling life savings to fund a child’s degree, only to learn it is worthless in the job market. Employers, particularly multinational firms, often shortlist candidates from accredited schools, leaving graduates from questionable institutions at a disadvantage.
A 2023 study by Aspiring Minds found that 40% of MBA graduates in India were underemployed, due in part to the glut of dubious credentials. Even honest institutions suffer, as their hard-earned accreditations get lost in a sea of imposters. Internationally, India’s higher education image takes a hit, with foreign universities and employers losing trust in Indian degrees. The economic fallout is significant—a waste of human capital in a country striving for global competitiveness.
How to spot fakes
So, how can students and families protect themselves? They should start with the official sources. The official websites of NAAC, AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS provide up-to-date lists of accredited members.
Be wary of terms like “membership” or “in process” — these are not equivalent to accreditation. Cross-check with the UGC’s list of offenders and use the National Academic Depository (NAD) if it becomes fully functional for real-time verification. And with NIRF temporarily suspended, avoid relying on rankings alone. Instead, dig into the credentials. Ask questions—authentic institutions will not hesitate to provide proof.
What needs to change
This problem is too big for individuals to tackle alone. India’s regulators must act swiftly and decisively. The UGC, NAAC, and NBA need stronger enforcement powers. Offending institutions should face shutdowns, not just fines. Publicly naming violators, perhaps on a wall of shame, could serve as a strong deterrent.
The NIRF system must undergo a complete overhaul. Verification of data must be mandatory. If institutions want to be ranked, they must submit to the same scrutiny NAAC applies. If not, the rankings should be scrapped.
Awareness campaigns, especially targeted at rural families, can help demystify the accreditation process. Schools caught falsifying credentials should face serious legal consequences, including imprisonment. A robust and user-friendly NAD platform could serve as a one-stop hub for verification, bringing much-needed transparency.
Misleading accreditation claims and the exposed flaws in NIRF rankings—now highlighted by the Madras High Court’s intervention—are not just bureaucratic errors; they amount tobetrayal of the dreams and trust of millions of students and families.
Regulators must crack down, institutions must come clean, and families must become informed consumers. The stakes are high—a generation’s aspirations and decades of progress are on the line. Awareness is the first step, but accountability is the only way forward. If India fails to act now, the real dropout crisis will be a collapse of trust in its education system.
Dr Prashant Pareek is Associate Professor and Dr Neha Sharma is Director at Shanti Business School, Ahmedabad.