The Role of Regional Intergovernmental Universities: A Case Study of South Asian University

This paper examines the role that regional intergovernmental universities play at the national and regional levels, by looking at South Asian University (SAU) as a case study. Regional intergovernmental universities are universities that belong to multiple countries within a region, and their establishment is generally considered an outcome of the internationalization and regionalization of higher education. These universities often place an emphasis on regional development and peace as part of their mission by producing human capital and social capital that reflects the values of the region. These developments are accompanied by the fact that the internationalization and regionalization of higher education has promoted a liberalization of education and has allowed students to develop knowledge and their sense of belonging beyond the national context. However, these globalizing forces also impinge on nation-states’ tendency to design education policies that carry their own national values, and not allow outside actors to get involved with national education policies. I examine this situation in the South Asian context. SAU is a regional intergovernmental university established by the SAARC member countries. With a campus in New Delhi, India, half of the students enrolled are internationals, and 80% of them are from the SAARC member countries. Given India’s advanced position in the SAARC region, I raise the following questions: 1. To what extent does SAU actually reflect the values of the region in the university’s policies and practices rather than only India’s values? 2. What are the implications of this value-orientation on the national and regional levels? In conclusion, this paper seeks to further this line of inquiry by (a) suggesting what lessons might be drawn from this case-study; and, (b) offering paths for future research.