What are NLUs (National Law Universities)? How are these Different from Other Law Schools?
Want to pursue a Law course in India? Know what National Law Universities are? How to secure admission in NLUs? and Why they are considered to be prominent Law colleges in India?
Considered to be the IITs of Law, National Law Universities or NLUs are the most sought after Law colleges for admission. Currently, there are around 27 NLUs in the Country. Affiliated to Bar Council of India (BCI), NLUs are recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
National Law Universities are single-discipline universities that offer integrated honours as well as Law degrees to aspirants. The first NLU was established in 1986 and was called National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore. NLSIU was established under National Law School of India Act, 1986.
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Following the footsteps of NLSIU Bangalore, many other State Legislative Assemblies also passed legislations to establish National Law Schools. All the National Law Schools (NLS) thus established may differ from NLSIU in terms of modalities but their structure as well as model of imparting education is more or less the same.
Even though NLU Delhi is a National Law University but it is not a part of the Consortium of NLUs. All the NLUs in India have been granted the status by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Thus, there is no major difference in the courses offered at NLU Delhi as compared to the other National Law Universities. However, the NLU Delhi offers admission to is BA LLB and LLM program through the AILET entrance exam.
- Who grants the status of National Law Universities to Law Universities?
- List of NLUs & their Inception
- NLU Admission Process
- Difference Between NLUs & Other Law Colleges
Who grants the status of National Law Universities to Law Universities?
As per University Grants Commission (UGC), “Universities are established either by the central government or by the state governments. The criteria are decided by the concerned government”.
But an astonishing thing about NLUs is that they have been established by the act of the state government. Thus, even though they are called “National” Law Universities, they are basically state level law universities. So, every NLU is recognised as a State University only by the UGC.
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Thus, all NLUs have been established as a result of state legislations. Explaining this further with an example: National Law School of India University Bangalore was established by Karnataka Act passed in 1986 and similarly NALSAR University was set up as a result of Andhra Pradesh Act of 1998.
This gets us to the next point that since these law universities are established as part of state legislations, so, they rely on grants from state governments and the grants received by different NLUs vary from state to state. This is the reason why fee charged by most of the law schools is high as they need to usually fund their expenses on their own. This is a major difference as compared to other institutes of excellence in the country such as IITs which receive funding by the Central Government.
Another aspect that affects the fee structure of NLUs is that most of these law schools fall under the Chief Justice of High Courts of the state in which they are constituted. These Chief Justices act as the University’s chancellor also. Also, many of the NLS are put under nodal supervision of the law and justice department in the state government and kept out of the department of higher education.
Due to this arrangement it has been noticed that in the states wherein the Chancellor of the NLU is the Chief Minister of the state, the fee is relatively less.
Also Read: How is NLU Delhi different from other National Law Universities?
Aspirants can go through the list of NLUs as per the date they were established in the table below:
| Name of NLU |
Year of Establishment |
|---|---|
| 1986 |
|
| 1998 |
|
| 1997 |
|
| The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences Kolkata |
1999 |
| 1999 |
|
| 2003 |
|
| 2003 |
|
| 2005 |
|
| 2006 |
|
| 2005 |
|
| 2006 |
|
| 2007 |
|
| 2008 |
|
| 2009 |
|
| 2010 |
|
| 2009 |
|
| 2013 |
|
| 2014 |
|
| 2015 |
|
| 2016 |
|
| 2017 |
|
| 2018 |
|
| 2018 |
|
| 2022 |
|
| 2023 |
|
| National Law University Meghalaya |
2023 |
| 2024 |
Admissions in NLUs is done only by means of a central entrance examination, which is the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). However, NLU Delhi does not consider CLAT scores for admission, but AILET scores are accepted to offer seats in the Law programmes offered by it.
Candidates will have to appear in the CLAT or AILET exams to be eligible for admission, which is conducted annually. Thereafter, the centralised counselling process is conducted wherein, students have to separately register and participate in the seat alltotment process.
Difference Between NLUs & Other Law Colleges
The legal profession is gaining tremendous popularity among youngsters. However, the major question remains unanswered in their minds is where to pursue the course and how it will impact their career ahead. There are many institutes to puruse the Law Courses (3-year LLB, 5-year LLB, LLM, or PhD) including National Level NLUs or some private or Govt. institutions. Let's find out what is the difference between these:
| Point of Difference | National Law Universities (NLU) | Other Law Colleges |
|---|---|---|
| Admission Process | through CLAT (accepted by all NLUs) & AILET (NLU Delhi). | Conducts a private entrance exam. |
| Quality of Education | Comprehensive legal education including practical exposure to courts or legal sector in corporate, mandatory internships, etc. | Comparitively less focus on practical exposure, students have to make efforts for themselves. |
| Infrastructure | World class infratructure is provided, including mootcourts, student exchange programs, library, auditoriums, etc. | May have relevant facilities or some may not. |
| Standard of Faculty | Highly qualified faculty members, including those qualified through PhD, practicing advocates, or retired judges. | These institutes have qualified lecturers, but the level and methods of education may differ. |
| Career Opportunities | Placement cell at the NLUs are highly active and 99% of students may find themselves placed at the top Law Firms. | However, placement cells at the normal colleges does not majorly focus on placements, students have to struggle to find a good law firm or corporate opportunities for themselves. |
| Fees | Fees structure at the NLUs is comparatively higher than the normal Law colleges. | Fee structure at other Law colleges is less in comparison to NLUs. |
Comments
(2)
J
a year ago
D
4 years ago
There is a minute difference between the two exams- AILET & CLAT. The AILET exam does not have two sections namely, Legal Aptitude and Quantitative Aptitude. Also, the questions asked in CLAT exam are lengthy and time taking, while AILET question paper is considered to be completed within time if practiced well. However, the CLAT exam has 120 questions, i.e., less in comparison to the AILET which has 150 questions and both exam have a time duration of 2 hours. The AILET exam have less number of sections as compared to the CLAT exam, however, the difficulty level remains the same. The other point of consideration is that the CLAT exam has broader competition due to higher number of students and AILET too has higher competition due to limited number of seats.