UGC AEDP 2025: Apprenticeship Credits Inside Your Degree

The UGC Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP) lets you spend one or more semesters of your regular degree doing a real, paid apprenticeship in industry, and counts that work as academic credits. You finish the same degree, in the same number of years, but graduate with hands-on experience and a stipend along the way. UGC finalised the AEDP guidelines for Higher Educational Institutions and directed implementation from the July 2025 academic session.

In short: AEDP is a formal “earn while you learn” track built into an ordinary UG degree. The apprenticeship is not an add-on after college; it replaces some classroom semesters with workplace training that carries credits under the National Credit Framework (NCrF). The total duration of your programme is not extended.

• Who can offer it – Higher Educational Institutions eligible under the UGC framework can embed apprenticeship into their degree programmes.
• When apprenticeship can start – Apprenticeship can be embedded from the 2nd semester onwards. It is not undertaken in the first semester.
• Minimum spell – At least one whole semester at a stretch.
• Degree length – The total programme duration is not extended; apprenticeship semesters replace regular semesters rather than adding to them.
• Money – Apprentices get partial stipend support through the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).
• A binding deal – A tripartite agreement between the HEI, the industry or establishment, and the student is mandatory before the apprenticeship runs.

The number of semesters you can spend on apprenticeship depends on the length of your UG degree.

So a B.Com or B.A. student in a 3-year degree can do anywhere from one to three semesters as apprenticeship; a 4-year UG student can do two to four. Either way, the degree still finishes on its normal timeline.

AEDP credits run on the National Credit Framework (NCrF), the same system that measures the rest of your degree, so workplace hours convert into the credits printed on your transcript.

• 30 hours of training = 1 credit.
• A one-year apprenticeship = 40 credits, which is 1,200 hours.
• Because the credits are part of your NCrF credit account, they count toward your degree rather than sitting outside it.

On the money side, NAPS provides partial stipend support to apprentices. NAPS is a separate government scheme, so the exact stipend depends on the establishment and the scheme terms in force, not on the UGC guidelines themselves. To understand how the stipend scheme works on its own, see how to apply under NAPS.

Because your performance is judged partly by your college and partly by the workplace, UGC caps how much any single entity can control the result. The evaluation weightage given to any one entity is capped at 50% (raised to 70% for specialized programmes). This stops either the HEI or the employer from unilaterally deciding your marks.

1. Check that your HEI offers AEDP. The programme has to be offered by your institution under the UGC guidelines; not every college runs it yet, since roll-out began with the July 2025 session.
2. Pick the apprenticeship window. Decide, within your degree's permissible range, how many semesters you want to embed and from which semester (2nd onwards).
3. Get matched with an establishment. The HEI ties up with an industry or establishment that takes you on as an apprentice.
4. Sign the tripartite agreement. Before the apprenticeship begins, you, your HEI, and the industry sign a mandatory three-way agreement setting out the training, duration, and responsibilities.
5. Do the apprenticeship and bank the credits. Your training hours convert to NCrF credits (30 hours = 1 credit) and your stipend flows via NAPS.
6. Return and graduate on time. Because duration is not extended, you complete the rest of your degree on schedule with the apprenticeship credits already counted.

For how AEDP sits inside the wider 2025 degree reforms, see the UGC four-year degree and biannual admission rules. Keep a copy of The RTI Playbook handy if your college is vague about whether it actually runs an approved AEDP track.

Kashvi Pathak, a B.Com student in a 3-year UG programme, chose AEDP starting from her 4th semester. Her college had signed up an accounting firm as the establishment. She, the college, and the firm signed a tripartite agreement, and she spent one full year as an apprentice doing real bookkeeping and audit-support work. Over that year she logged 1,200 hours, which converted to 40 credits under the NCrF, and she received a stipend with partial NAPS support. Because AEDP does not extend the programme, Kashvi still graduated with her batch in three years, but with a year of paid, credited work experience on her record. Her final assessment combined the college's marks and the firm's feedback, with no single side allowed more than 50% of the weight.

If a college advertises an “apprenticeship degree” or an industry “certificate,” confirm what it actually is before you enrol. UGC recognition and a genuine AEDP track are not the same as a private certificate.

• Check whether the institution and programme are recognised: how to verify UGC recognition in India.
• Understand the difference between a UGC-approved qualification and an industry-issued certificate: UGC-approved vs industry certificate.

No. The total programme duration is not extended. Apprenticeship semesters replace regular semesters within your existing degree length, so a 3-year degree stays 3 years and a 4-year degree stays 4 years.

The apprenticeship can be embedded from the 2nd semester onwards. It is not undertaken in the first semester, and any apprenticeship spell must be at least one whole semester at a stretch.

A one-year apprenticeship equals 40 credits, which is 1,200 hours of training, calculated at 30 hours of training for 1 credit under the National Credit Framework.

Apprentices get partial stipend support through the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). The exact amount depends on the establishment and the NAPS terms in force, not on the UGC guidelines.

It is a mandatory three-way agreement between your HEI, the industry or establishment, and you as the student. It has to be in place before the apprenticeship runs and sets out the training, duration, and obligations of all three sides.

No. The evaluation weightage given to any single entity is capped at 50%, rising to 70% for specialized programmes. This keeps either the college or the employer from controlling your assessment on its own.

UGC finalised the AEDP guidelines and directed Higher Educational Institutions to implement them from the July 2025 academic session. The draft was issued earlier, in 2024, but the operative roll-out is the July 2025 session.

• UGC, Guidelines for Higher Educational Institutions to offer Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP): https://www.ugc.gov.in/pdfnews/5897104_Guidelines-on-Apprenticeship-Embedded-Degree-Programme-(AEDP).pdf