NLSIU Renames Course 'MPP' as per UGC Order

National Law School of India University (NLSIU) is in a bad situation because of their Master of Public Policy course, which started two years ago and has 42 students.

The Law school was recently informed by the UGC that their 'Master of Public Policy' course is not recognized, and that the school should rename the course as Master of Arts (MA) in Public Policy.

This announcement by UGC has created a situation of distress for the students of the programme.

After the course was approved by statutory academic bodies within the law school, Vice-Chancellor R Venkata Rao wrote to the UGC about starting the Master of Public Policy course. "This nomenclature is used widely across the world, especially in the United States. We wanted to use it as our standards are at par with international law schools, and so that it would help students who may want to go abroad. The UGC wrote back that we have to use MA as the nomenclature," Japhet said.

The Law school has changed the name of the MPP course to MA in Public Policy on its website and other advertisement materials. But they are trying their hardest to change UGC’s mind. "We will continue to convince the UGC, and hopefully they will approve this nomenclature," Japhet said.