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Some families find out too late that a college's degree is not recognised. The official lists that would have warned them are free and online.
What do UGC and AICTE approval actually mean?
Under Section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956, only a university set up by a Central or State Act, an institution deemed to be a university, or an institution specially empowered by an Act of Parliament can award degrees, as the UGC explains in its public notice on fake universities. The same notice says Section 23 bars any other institution from using the word "University" in its name.
So a college does not award your degree; its university does. Check the university first, then the college's link to it.
AICTE regulates technical education. It keeps lists of both approved and unapproved institutions on its website so families can check before admission, as it told the Delhi High Court in July 2026 (The News Mill report). AICTE's June 2026 notice, summarised by TeamLease RegTech, adds that universities themselves are exempt under the AICTE Act, 1987, so for a university, start with the UGC.
How to check if a college is UGC or AICTE approved?
Work through these in order.
Note the college's exact legal name, its claimed university, the course name and the mode (regular, online or distance).
Find the university on the UGC universities page, which has separate tabs for central, state, deemed and state private universities.
Search the UGC list of fake universities. If the name, or something close to it, appears, stop there.
Confirm the affiliation on the university's own website, which should list its affiliated colleges. The UGC also publishes colleges under Sections 2(f) and 12(B), but that list is mainly about eligibility for UGC grants, so a college missing from it is not automatically fake.
For engineering and other technical courses, check the college and the exact course on the AICTE website, including its list of unapproved institutions. Ask the college for its AICTE approval letter for the current academic year.
For a professional course, check its own regulator. For MBBS, the NMC list of colleges teaching MBBS shows the university, annual intake and recognition status for each college.
For an online or distance degree, check the UGC-DEB portal, which lists institutions recognised for online and open and distance learning. Since the 2024-25 session, every student except foreign students enrolling in these programmes needs a DEB-ID (Careers360 report).
What are the warning signs of a fake university?
The UGC's February 2026 list names 32 institutions across 12 states and union territories, with clear patterns.
A name that borrows prestige. The list includes "Indian Institute of Science and Engineering, New Delhi" and "United Nations University, Delhi".
"University" in the name but missing from UGC lists. Section 23 says that word is reserved for real universities.
An office address, not a campus. Some listed entries give addresses in commercial buildings, such as an office in Nehru Place and a floor of a business park in Pitampura.
Papers that are not approvals. A company registration or quality certificate is not the power to award degrees; only the bodies named in Section 22 have that.
Pressure to pay before you can check.
A worked example: one offer, checked
Say your cousin gets a message: B.Tech at "Sunrise Institute of Technology, affiliated to a state university", fees due tonight.
You ask for the legal name, the university's name and the AICTE approval letter. They send a brochure, not the letter.
The university appears on the UGC state universities tab.
The university's website has no Sunrise Institute in its affiliated colleges list.
The AICTE website shows no approved institute under that name.
Verdict: do not pay. A real university does not make an unlisted college's degree valid.
What should you ask the college, and what if something is wrong?
Ask by email:
"Which university will award the degree, and where is your college on its affiliated list?"
"Please send this year's AICTE or council approval letter for this exact course."
"Is the course regular, online or distance, and is it on the UGC-DEB list?"
A genuine college answers in writing; if yours will not, walk away. You can write to the UGC at contact.ugc@nic.in, the address on its fake universities details page, and AICTE's June 2026 notice asks families to report unapproved institutes to it.
For the official routes into colleges, see our guides to JoSAA counselling for parents and NEET UG counselling for parents; how to evaluate a coaching institute applies similar checks before you pay.
If the entrance exam is the next hurdle and you are not sure where to start, Fermi's AI tutor can work out what you already know and build a plan for the session, so you sit down to a clear next step.
