Who Owns Manipal Academy of Higher Education?

The origins of MAHE trace to 1953, when Dr. T.M.A. Pai founded Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, Karnataka. This was a landmark event in Indian higher education, as it represented India's first private medical school at a time when medical education was almost exclusively a government function. Dr. Pai's vision was to build a self-sustaining educational township in the coastal Karnataka region.

In 1958, the Manipal Institute of Technology was established, extending the group's presence into engineering education. Through the 1960s and 1970s, additional institutions were added across health sciences, dental sciences, and allied health programs. Degrees were initially awarded by Karnataka University, Dharwad, and later by the University of Mysore. From 1980 to 1993, Mangalore University served as the affiliating university.

In 1993, Kasturba Medical College and Manipal College of Dental Sciences were accorded deemed university status by the University Grants Commission, forming MAHE as India's first private deemed university. This was a pivotal structural change that allowed the institution to award its own degrees and operate with greater academic autonomy.

Manipal Institute of Technology became a constituent unit of MAHE in 2000, consolidating the group's engineering programs under the university umbrella. The Bengaluru campus was established to serve students in Karnataka's technology hub, and subsequent campuses in Mangalore and Jamshedpur extended MAHE's geographic reach across India.

International expansion followed, with branch campuses established in Dubai and Malaysia to serve the South Asian diaspora and international students seeking Indian-style professional education with global recognition. The Dubai campus serves students across the Gulf Cooperation Council region, while the Malaysia campus addresses demand in Southeast Asia.

In 2006, the Manipal Advanced Research Group was formed to grow new research projects in fundamental sciences and promote interdisciplinary cooperation between basic research, biomedical science, and engineering. This initiative reflected MAHE's ambition to transition from a teaching-focused institution to a research-intensive university.

In 2020, MAHE received Institutes of Eminence status from the Ministry of Education, one of only a small number of private institutions to receive this designation. The recognition granted MAHE additional regulatory autonomy and signaled its standing among India's leading private universities.

In 2022, MAHE launched UGC-entitled online degree programs through the Online Manipal platform, offering online MBA, M.Sc. in Data Science, M.Sc. in Business Analytics, and postgraduate certificate programs in business analytics and logistics and supply chain management. This expansion addressed growing demand from working professionals seeking flexible higher education options.