Introduction
By examining the data of teaching staff in private universities in Rajasthan, I found that most private universities prefer non-PhD candidates for the assistant professor positions over those with a PhD. Legally, Phd is not compulsory to hire as an assistant professor at either the University or College level. However, in 2023, UGC issued a regulation to mandate a PhD for hiring teaching staff with minimum qualifications at the assistant professor level. Still, this regulation was postponed and never implemented for various reasons. But one thing is clear: UGC also considered making PhD a minimum qualification for hiring assistant professors at the university or college level. But this hiring minimum qualification of phd for the teaching staff doesn’t align with the business model of private universities. Financially, hiring non-PhD teaching staff over the PhD-level teaching staff is always in the university’s favour. Candidates without PhD are readily available with less salary demand. But universities are not just a business. They are the institutions shaping the country’s future and the state of Rajasthan. Giving priority to the non-PhD candidates over the PhD is a direct compromise to the research outcomes of the universities.
The Trend and Implications
Most private universities in Rajasthan have more faculty without a PhD than those with a PhD. Except for Amity University, all the private universities of Jaipur follow this trend. This trend is more common at the entry level for the post of assistant professor, where most of the faculty are without Phd. This trend tells us that most universities are focused only on giving degrees. Research is not a priority. So hiring non-PhD candidates serves their purpose, since research is not objective. According to the Economic Times report, Rajasthan has the highest number of universities in India. But Rajasthan still doesn’t have any position in the research. We don’t have a single university which has excellence in research. The reason for this can be justified by the hiring of the teaching staff by private universities.
In the case of public universities, funding and over-bureaucratic control are cited as significant factors for the malfunctioning of the universities and, therefore, poor research quality. However, these funding and bureaucratic restrictions do not apply directly to private universities. But here, the problem is different, and that is the intention. We are seeing a new trend in India at the national level, where some private universities are leading in research. For example, Ashoka University, Shiv Nadar University, and Sharda University. These new universities in the private sector are continuously gaining recognition in research. Still, despite having the highest number of universities, we do not see the same scenario in Rajasthan, which should be very concerning for us.
Visualisation of the Trend
To clarify this picture, I examined the faculties in the major private universities of Jaipur. For example, Jaipur National University has a total of 388 teaching staff. Out of the total faculty, only 114 faculty, less than one third, have Phd degree. And this is not only for their assistant professors. It is worse with the Professor-level faculty. Out of 84 professors, only 36 have phd degree, less than 50%.
Another major private university is Vivekananda Global University. More than 86% of assistant professors at VGU do not hold a Ph.D. and only have a postgraduate degree as their highest qualification. While Professors and Associate Professors are largely Ph.D.-qualified (96% and 93% respectively), the sharp drop in qualification at the Assistant Professor level is alarming. Out of 161 Assistant Professors, only 22 have a Ph.D., while 139 are hired without PhD.
The same trend is followed by JECRC University. Data shows that out of 154 Assistant Professors at JECRC University, only 43 hold a Ph.D., while 111 faculty have only a postgraduate (PG) degree. Nearly three-fourths of the university’s teaching backbone lacks research training or doctoral-level academic engagement. This pattern isn’t limited to entry-level positions. Even among Associate Professors, six faculty are without a Ph.D. Professors, to the university’s credit, are all Ph.D qualified. But one wonders: how are these professors expected to lead departments when their juniors lack even the minimal scholarly exposure?
While institutions like JECRC, VGU, and Jaipur National University raise concerns about having under-qualified faculty in key teaching roles, even the more established and better-funded universities are not immune to structural shortcomings. Manipal University Jaipur, widely regarded as one of the more reputable private institutions in Rajasthan, presents a revealing case. At first glance, Manipal appears to uphold academic standards: 100% of Professors and over 93% of Associate Professors hold a Ph.D. This suggests a commendable commitment to qualified senior faculty. However, this surface-level excellence is undermined by a troubling reality at the entry level: 172 out of 313 assistant professors, nearly 55%, have only a postgraduate degree.
This is not a marginal issue; it’s a systemic problem. Assistant Professors are the lifeblood of undergraduate education. They shape the classroom experience, supervise early research, and serve as the academic gateway for students. When more than half of them lack research qualifications, the institution’s foundational integrity weakens. The absence of doctoral training limits these educators’ ability to impart deeper analytical and methodological skills to students.
The major problem is at the entry level
A persistent and structural problem in Rajasthan’s private higher education landscape lies in the hiring practices for entry-level faculty, particularly Assistant Professors. Across multiple institutions, including Manipal University, JECRC University, and Vivekananda Global University, data reveals a troubling trend: the majority of Assistant Professors are appointed without a Ph.D., holding only a postgraduate degree as their highest qualification.
This pattern, although legally permitted under certain regulatory flexibilities, poses several academic challenges. First, Assistant Professors constitute the bulk of the teaching workforce, especially at the undergraduate level, which is the foundational stage of higher education. Their role involves more than lecturing; they supervise student research, conduct evaluations, and often act as academic mentors. Without the rigour of research training, their capacity to guide students in critical thinking, research methodology, and subject depth is inherently constrained.
Second, this hiring pattern reflects a cost-saving logic rather than a commitment to academic excellence. Private universities often prioritise affordability and compliance over merit, hiring PG-qualified candidates because they command lower salaries and are more readily available. While this allows institutions to scale quickly and satisfy teacher-student ratios on paper (especially for NAAC/NIRF evaluations), it compromises the quality of knowledge transmission.
Third, the reliance on under-qualified faculty at the entry level creates a structural contradiction. While Professors and Associate Professors are typically Ph.D.-qualified, meeting or exceeding UGC norms, their junior counterparts are not. This results in a fragmented academic environment where mentorship becomes inconsistent, research ecosystems remain weak, and students receive uneven exposure across their academic journey.
Moreover, this trend devalues the Ph.D. itself. Early-career scholars who invest time, effort, and resources into doctoral training often find themselves overlooked for positions favouring less-qualified PG candidates. This discourages academic pursuit and risks creating a future faculty pool that is both demoralised and disincentivised.
What Should Be the Case?
Manipal’s case and that of other private universities illustrate a broader trend in Rajasthan private universities: the top-heavy illusion of quality. Senior faculty may be qualified, but the bulk of teaching is conducted by PG-only Assistant Professors, creating a two-tier academic system. On paper, this satisfies NAAC parameters and looks good in brochures, but it compromises the research outcomes. What unites Manipal, JECRC, Vivekananda Global, and Jaipur National University is the same tension: balancing expansion with quality. In the race to grow programs, meet regulatory numbers, and maximise profits, universities have chosen to compromise on one of the most critical components of higher education, the qualification of teachers.
This trend of hiring non-PhD teaching staff should be changed and questioned by academia. Non-PhD teaching staff should be discouraged, especially at the University level. The government of Rajasthan should continuously monitor the private universities and should punish those who don’t comply with their PhD teaching staff.
Firstly, universities are not merely teaching institutions; they are centres of knowledge production, requiring faculty who are trained in research methodologies, disciplinary depth, and critical inquiry, skills typically developed during doctoral training. Hiring non-PhD staff undermines this function and risks reducing universities to mere degree-granting institutions without substantive intellectual contribution.
Secondly, private universities must not be allowed to compromise academic standards under the guise of financial efficiency. The state, particularly in Rajasthan, which hosts one of the largest numbers of private universities, must intervene proactively. The government should initiate mandatory audits, make faculty qualification disclosures public, and penalise non-compliant institutions through restrictions on accreditation, grant eligibility, or student admissions.
Therefore, hiring non-PhD teaching staff in private universities, especially for postgraduate and research programs, should be actively discouraged. Instead, institutions must be encouraged to recruit PhD-qualified faculty through regulatory compulsion and incentive structures. This will not only uplift the academic environment of these institutions but also create meaningful employment opportunities for the growing pool of unemployed PhD holders in India.
If private universities wish to claim global parity, their hiring patterns must reflect international standards. Minimum faculty qualifications should not be treated as optional. Regulatory bodies like UGC and NAAC must move beyond checklists and start enforcing norms with meaningful audits and penalties. Until then, private universities will continue to build tall towers of reputation on weak Research foundations.
Minimum Eligibility
Officially, according to the UGC, NET is the minimum qualification for teaching staff at the assistant professor level. But that is the minimum qualification. Why should universities limit their teaching staff to having a minimum qualification?. Suppose there are enough candidates available with more qualifications than the minimum, Should we not use the knowledge and expertise of the highly qualified individuals to foster research and analytical thinking in our undergraduate and postgraduate with hiring more qualified teaching staff? Again, the cost efficiency and the business model of the private universities don’t hire more qualified teaching staff than those with a net-only qualification.
Phd scholars are not good at teaching.
Many scholars argue against giving priority to PhD holders in hiring rather than net-qualified individuals for the assistant professor positions at the University level by citing that it is not necessary for a Phd scholar to have teaching knowledge or expertise. Further, they argue that even if the individual with phd has knowledge on the subject, it doesn’t necessarily mean the individual also has expertise in explaining that knowledge in the classroom.
My response to this argument is that the Phd is an add-on degree to the qualification of individuals with the net qualification. An individual must have a NET/ JRF/PhD-only certificate and a master’s degree to get a PhD degree, so whatever knowledge and qualifications non-PhD individuals possess, PhD candidates already have.
My second argument is that non-PhD candidates are not trained for any separate course or diploma for teaching, especially at higher education. Like in the school education, there is a separate degree called B.Ed and which is completely to train individuals for teaching. So in that case, we can argue that those who have a B.Ed degree are more qualified and expert in the classroom teaching than those who have all other qualifications but don’t have a B.Ed. In that case, the individuals with B.Ed could be considered more qualified for teaching than those who don’t have.
But in higher education, there is nothing like this. All the individuals who are qualified with a net and who have a net plus Phd degree, have the same background and come from a process that doesn’t provide any special training for teaching other than the experience gained directly through teaching at the college or University level.
If universities are not giving opportunities to PhD scholars for teaching first, then how will an individual get experience and test his or her knowledge in teaching? Individuals without a PhD are good at teaching because they are doing it. They gained experience, so why PhD scholar can’t get such experience? So here, the main problem is not that Phd scholars are not good at teaching rather main problem is the business model of the private universities. Their business model doesn’t allow them to hire PhD scholars.
Net-qualified should not be allowed to teach?
I am not against hiring teaching staff who do not have a PhD or only with a NET as a minimum qualification. I am only against hiring at the majority level. As I already mentioned above that universities have more than 80% teaching staff without Phd and that should not be allowed. At the college level, to some extent, the majority of the teaching staff could be without Phd. Because at the college level, the research is not one of the primary goals, the curriculum and degree distribution are what is happening in India at the college level. But universities are not just for distributing degrees. They are to foster critical thinking in society and to conduct significant research on public interest issues and topics. So, for that research, expertise is very important.
What is the solution?
Many individuals who have NET may not be interested in research, and NET is mainly for teaching in higher education as a minimum qualification. So, making a Phd compulsory in higher education at all levels would not work. But it should be made compulsory at the university level. And at the college level, only NET-qualified candidates can be hired at the majority level. This policy change will do justice to both a Phd holder who spent an important and long period for phd and to those who don’t have an interest in research but want to pursue a career in higher education with teaching.
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