University Grants Committee

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The University Grants Committee (commonly abbreviated UGC) is a title currently or formerly used for public bodies in a number of Commonwealth countries. In all cases the function was essentially the same: to stand between government and institutions of higher education, advising government on policy and distributing funds to the institutions on behalf of government, with greater or less autonomy depending on the country and the period. University Grants Committees can thus be classified as quangos.

Countries that have, or have had, bodies called the University Grants Committee include:

  • Hong Kong - see University Grants Committee (Hong Kong)
  • United Kingdom - see University Grants Committee (United Kingdom). In the UK, the UGC was eventually replaced by a body called the University Funding Council (UFC), which was eventually merged with the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC) and split up into bodies responsible for each of the four nations of the United Kingdom, the largest being the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

In India, Pakistan, Bengladesh and Sri Lanka the title University Grants Commission is used for a body with essentially the same function