International Education Guide - Enterprise and Advanced Education ...

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GUIDE for the assessment of education from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
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Table 24.
Grading Scale, City University of Science
and Technology, Peshawar (Private)
Percentage (%) Mark Letter Grade Grade Points
92–100 A+ 4.00
86–91 A 3.67
79–85 B+ 3.33
70–78 B 3.00
63–69 C+ 2.50
56–62 C 2.00
50–55 D 1.50
Below 50% F Fail
Withdrawal W –
Incomplete I –
For more information, refer to Grading Scales.
Types of Institutions
Higher education in Pakistan is delivered by over one
hundred universities and degree-awarding institutions, over
1,000 general colleges and over 1,000 professional colleges.
Universities and Degree-Awarding
Institutions (DAIs)
Two types of institutions are authorized to award academic
degrees in Pakistan: universities and other degree-awarding
institutions. Their total number is 122 (2008), including
93 universities and 29 DAIs. Although they offer both
undergraduate and graduate programs, their focus is on
graduate education and research, with undergraduate
teaching mostly conducted at affiliated colleges.
Universities and DAIs can be classified in various ways.
In terms of jurisdiction, they are national or provincial,
as they receive their charters through acts of federal or
provincial legislatures. There are 21 national institutions,
most of which are located in Islamabad, the national capital.
The remaining 101 institutions belong to the four provinces:
Sindh (38), Punjab (36), NWFP (21), and Balochistan (6).
In terms of funding, institutions are public or private.
Universities in Pakistan were all public until 1982. Since the
late 1990s many private institutions have been chartered.
There are now 65 public and 57 private universities and
DAIs. The federal government is responsible for funding
all public universities and DAIs in Pakistan. Private
institutions are self-financed, with student fees as their
main source of income.
In terms of structure, universities can be affiliating or
non-affiliating. An affiliating university has a number
of colleges attached to it. It formulates the curricula and
syllabi, administers examinations and awards degrees
for undergraduate programs at its affiliated colleges. Its
own faculties, departments and/or constituent colleges
conduct research and offer graduate programs. Some public
universities have very large numbers of affiliated colleges,
the top one being the University of the Punjab, which had
about 530 affiliated colleges in 2008. A few universities
have no affiliated colleges; their faculties, departments and/
or constituent colleges conduct research and offer both
undergraduate and graduate programs. DAIs usually do not
have affiliated colleges.
In terms of fields of study, universities are general or
specialized. General universities offer programs in a wide
range of fields. Specialized universities offer programs
only in specific areas such as art and design, agriculture
and veterinary medicine, health sciences, engineering, or
business and IT. DAIs are usually specialized institutions.
Universities may offer programs in traditional learning
mode or distance learning mode.
Distance Learning Institutions
The two national universities that offer programs mainly
through distance learning are the Allama Iqbal Open
University and the Virtual University of Pakistan.
Compared with traditional universities, they are flexible in
terms of admission rules and modes and duration of study.
Established in 1974 as People’s Open University, the
Allama Iqbal Open University assumed its current name
in 1977 (it is named after the poet and philosopher Allama
Muhammad Iqbal). It is the oldest institution of its kind
in Asia. It is also the largest university in Pakistan, having
a total enrolment of 1.8 million in 2004–05. Some of its
prominent features include:
• offering several hundred courses ranging from
secondary school certificate level to PhD level
• nine regional campuses, over 100 regional centres and
offices, and over 1,400 study centres across the country
• the nation’s largest provider of teacher education, with
an average enrolment of one million students
• reliance on non-traditional methods of instruction
including correspondence, AIOU-approved self-