Imagine Stanford India is basically a hostel / co-working space in Bangalore, which provides high-speed internet and living facilities. It costs a fraction of Stanford CA. They collaborate with IIIT Bangalore and IISc for some in-person courses, or student group sessions. Students are well networked with Microsoft Research, Google AI, SRIB, etc. to provide internship and placement opportunities. Perhaps when the pandemic subsides, Stanford would want these students back in the US, to avoid raising eyebrows among other students paying a lot more.

Alternatively, imagine a new startup, launched in part by Programming Paathshala along with some Indian academics. Instead of a four year degree, you cram up the core syllabi into four semesters, with a compulsory summer internship in between. Lure in students who stand nothing to lose, eg. those who can't afford heavy fees but are determined and talented. Use JEE ranks and other test achievements to gauge their skills. Curriculum would include programming, data structures, linear algebra, discrete mathematics, graph theory, machine learning, web/android development, databases, networking, competitive programming, system design, compilers, theory of computation, and some optional advanced courses (crypto, nlp, vision, high performance computing).

Semester wise breakdown

  1. Spring: Algebra, Programming (Algorithms + Data Structures), Probability & Stats, Linux.
  2. Summer: Competitive, ML + project.
  3. Fall: (Internship hunt), Compilers, Networking, ToC, OS, Databases.
  4. Spring: System Design, Competitive, some of semester 3 above.
  5. Summer: Internship.
  6. Fall: (Placement hunt), Project.
  7. Spring: Project.
  8. Summer: Placement.

Alternatively, target those who've already done their bachelors. It avoids you taking responsibility for the most important credential / degree that they obtain. So this is a masters course in effect, just an expanded version of Programming Paathshala. You house them and introduce a peer system, along with guidance on projects. PP doesn't even need to figure out ways to find talented kids any different from their current model / target audience.

PP's Genesis does something similar. 7 months of remote learning for professionals and students to cover CS fundamentals along with lots of competitive programming.

Modi invited foreign colleges to set up branches in India.