National Assessment and Accreditation Council

NAAC was established in 1994 in response to recommendations of National Policy on Education (1986). This policy was to "address the issues of deterioration in quality of education", and the Programme of Action (POA-1992) laid out strategic plans for the policies including the establishment of an independent national accreditation body.^[3][4] Consequently, the NAAC was established in 1994 with its headquarters at Bengaluru.

The NAAC assesses institutes on an eight-grade scale based on the scores of cumulative grade point average (CGPA):^[5]

As of June 2023^[update], 820 universities and 15501 colleges were accredited by NAAC.^[6] The process of NAAC is done by colleges and universities with the help of internal quality assurance cell. In 2023, the NAAC announced plans to overhaul its accreditation framework by introducing a more data-driven approach, emphasizing institutional outcomes and global benchmarking.^[7] As of 2024, NAAC has accredited over 450 universities and 8,500 colleges across India.^[8]

In February 2025, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested the chairman and six other members of a NAAC inspection committee, along with individuals from the Guntur‑based Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, after uncovering a bribery scheme in which assessors allegedly received cash, gold, laptops, and mobile phones in exchange for favorable A++ accreditation ratings for multiple higher‑education institutions.^[10] Raids conducted across 20 locations including Chennai, Bengaluru, Sambalpur, and New Delhi; led to seizures of approximately ₹3,700,000 (US$38,000) and electronic items.^[11] In response, NAAC debarred the accused assessors, suspended KLEF from applying for accreditation for five years, and initiated reviews of hundreds of recent assessments.^[12]