The first cohort of students educated under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in Maharashtra is preparing to graduate with three-year degrees featuring significantly redesigned certificates that highlight their multidisciplinary academic journeys.
Redesigned Degree Certificates
State universities across Maharashtra are considering substantial changes to their degree certificate nomenclature while maintaining the broader titles prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The proposed certificates will prominently display both the major and minor subjects students have pursued throughout their courses.
M Jagadesh Kumar, the former UGC chairman who oversaw the initial implementation of NEP, confirmed to Times of India that numerous public and private universities have already adopted this model of including multidisciplinary subject names in their certificates.
National Level Reforms
Simultaneously, at the national level, a UGC standing committee is expected to release recommendations for implementing BS (Bachelor of Science) and MS (Master of Science) titles even for humanities and commerce streams. This move aims to create more multidisciplinary and uniform degree structures across India's higher education landscape.
Kumar emphasized that universities should utilize the official degree titles approved by the UGC while listing multidisciplinary subjects within brackets. "This is the standard practice across the world," he noted, adding that institutions can decide whether to include open electives in degree certificates, provided students complete the required credits in those subjects.
Practical Implementation and Benefits
Under NEP 2020, which autonomous colleges in Maharashtra implemented during the 2023-24 academic year, students gained the flexibility to select both a major and minor subject from their first year of undergraduate studies.
A government official explained the significance of these changes: "It is important to change the nomenclature in degree certificates to reflect the multidisciplinary subjects that students have taken. If degrees continue to mention only BA, B Com and B Sc with core specializations, there will be no distinction for NEP degrees."
The official further clarified that including both major and minor subjects on certificates, assuming students complete the prerequisite credits in both areas, will enable graduates to pursue postgraduate studies (level six under the new structure) in either subject.
Kumar provided a concrete example: a student studying economics at the undergraduate level could earn either a BA (Economics) or BS (Economics). However, if the program combines economics with quantitative methods and mathematics, the degree could be titled BA (Quantitative Economics and Mathematical Economics).
The former UGC chairman confirmed that this concept has been thoroughly explained in multiple meetings with vice-chancellors, and several universities are already implementing this model successfully.
Notable examples include OP Jindal Global University offering BA (Hons) in philosophy, politics and economics; Christ University providing BSc (economics, mathematics and statistics) with econometrics honours; and Gujarat Central University offering BSc Environmental Sciences (Biology, chemistry and geography).
Universities have the autonomy to make decisions regarding the inclusion of multidisciplinary subjects in brackets through their statutory bodies, including academic and management councils, while operating within the UGC's established framework.
