TN plans to fund degrees in the world's top 100 universities and make students pay in kind.
The scheme will cover scholars’ academic and overseas living costs in exchange for three years of service to the state after graduation.
Updated on:
19 Oct 2026, 7:56 am
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government is planning to roll out a landmark scheme to fully fund the tuition and living costs of TN students who secure admissions to the world’s top 100 universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge.
Under the proposed scheme, eligible scholars would have their full academic and overseas living expenses covered in return for a commitment to contribute to the state’s development for three years after their graduation.
The obligation can be fulfilled through three specific ways: working as policy advisers or consultants to the government, serving as visiting faculty at higher education institutions in Tamil Nadu, or setting up enterprises and investing in the state.
The ‘Respect for Knowledge’ proposal, which figures in TVK’s vision document for the Higher Education Department, aims to bring the expertise students acquire at leading international institutions back to Tamil Nadu through roles in government, higher education, and industry.
The proposal is intended to address concerns over brain drain by making overseas education an investment for the betterment of Tamil Nadu’s own institutions and economy, officials said.
According to a rough estimate, 35,000 to 40,000 students from Tamil Nadu go abroad for higher education each year. Of them, around 5% to 6% enrol in the world’s top 100 universities.
Officials also said graduates could bring global expertise into policymaking, strengthen teaching and research, and mentor students in the state. The details, however, are still being worked out.
Higher Education Secretary Dheeraj Kumar told TNIE that the department was consulting stakeholders to devise an arrangement that would be practical for both the government and the students.
“We are working on how to implement the scheme efficiently. It needs to be designed carefully, taking into account the concerns and feedback of students who go abroad for higher education. If the conditions imposed by the state are perceived as cumbersome or burdensome by the students, then the scheme may not achieve its intended objectives. We have to be very careful about it,” he said.
“We have our avenues for consultation and we are working towards an arrangement that is practical and mutually acceptable,” he added.
Officials said the department plans to consult students currently studying abroad, alumni of leading global institutions, and academicians in Tamil Nadu before finalising the framework.
Details including eligibility, the method of identifying the top 100 universities, the selection process and how graduates would fulfil their three-year commitment, are still being worked out, officials said. The policy will also have to specify what happens if a beneficiary does not meet the conditions.
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