NINETY TYPES of tree sway in the arboretum at the heart of Ahmedabad University, in the western state of Gujarat. “Always be in Beta(永远处于测试阶段；持续改进)”, say motivational signs that hang in the institution’s wide halls. The university’s four thousand or so learners toil(辛苦劳作；苦干) in smarter surroundings than the average Indian student—and that is not surprising. Each year of undergraduate study at this private non-profit costs around 500,000 rupees(印度卢比) ($5,300), well above a typical Indian’s annual wage.
印度西部古吉拉特邦艾哈迈达巴德大学中心的植物园里，九十种树木随风摇曳。该机构宽阔的大厅里挂着励志标语：“永远处于测试版”。这所大学约四千名学习者在比普通印度学生更智能的环境中刻苦学习——这并不奇怪。在这所私立非营利大学，本科学习每年花费约50万卢比（5300美元），远高于普通印度人的年工资。
Ahmedabad is one in a crop of(一批；一群) young, elite private universities promising they can put Indian higher education on the map. The country’s massive college and university system has quadrupled(四倍增长) in size since 2001. It now has 45m students, the most in the world after China. Yet across India, teaching and research can be dire(极其糟糕的；可怕的). Even at the creamy end(最顶尖的部分；精英阶层), Indian outfits lag foreign peers. Not one Indian institution features in the top 100 of any of the most-respected global rankings.
艾哈迈达巴德大学是一批新兴精英私立大学中的一员，它们承诺能让印度高等教育闻名于世。印度庞大的学院和大学体系自2001年以来规模翻了两番，现有4500万学生，仅次于中国居世界第二。然而在印度各地，教学和研究状况可能非常糟糕。即使是在最顶尖的那部分，印度机构也落后于外国同行。在任何一个最受尊重的全球排名前100中，都没有印度机构的身影。
Posh private outfits bent on(决心；一心想) changing this began setting up around 15 years ago. They take inspiration from their famous American counterparts, including when it comes to costs: annual fees at some can rise above 1m rupees. Already a handful rank “right up there with(与……并驾齐驱；达到同等水平) the very best institutions” in India for some subjects, reckons Pushkar, an author and academic in Goa(果阿邦（印度西南部）) (who goes by only one name).
一心想要改变这种状况的豪华私立机构大约在15年前开始设立。它们从著名的美国同行那里汲取灵感，包括成本方面：有些学校的年费可能超过100万卢比。果阿的一位作家兼学者普什卡尔（他只有一个名字）认为，在印度，已经有一些学校在某些学科上与“最好的机构并驾齐驱”。
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