'Four-year undergrad programmes need of the hour'

According to Ashish Dhawan, senior MD of ChrysCapital Investment Advisors and one of the founding members of the university, a substantial number students at Ashoka University would be those who could not make it to universities like Harvard and Oxford.

“We are committed to keep the standards high. We have partnered with top global universities and I can assure you that standards will be at par with any top institutions in the world,” Dhawan said.

Ashoka University has partnered with the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan and Carleton College and Sciences Po and is in talks with other global institutions for collaboration.

On costs, Dhawan said the students would be getting global-standard education at just a fraction of cost at foreign universities.

Four-year undergraduate programmes at top global universities cost around Rs.1.5 crore ($250,000). The annual tuition fee at Harvard is Rs.24 lakh; at Oxford Rs.17.5 lakh; Cornell Rs.26.4 lakh; Stanford Rs.26.6 lakh; Columbia Rs.28.8 lakh and Yale Rs.22 lakh. Cost of living comes at around Rs.8-10 lakh.

Annual tuition fee at Ashoka University will be Rs.3.9 lakh and hostel fee will be Rs.95,000.

Prominent members of founding team of Ashoka University include Arjun Bhagat, chairman of Calibrated Group; Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder of naukri.com; Puneet Dalmia, managing director of Dalmia Cements; Atul Nishar, founder of Aptech, besides Sinha, Dhawan and Gupta.