The Higher Education Commission (colloquially known as HEC) is a statutory body formed by the Government of Pakistan which was established in 2002 under the Chairmanship of Atta-ur-Rahman. Its main functions are funding, overseeing, regulating and accrediting the higher education institutions in the country. It was first established in 1974 as University Grants Commission (UGC), and came into its modern form on 11 September 2002 after Atta-ur-Rahman's reforms, which received international praise. The commission is responsible for formulating higher education policy and quality assurance to meet the international standards as well as providing accrediting academic degrees, development of new institutions and uplift of existing institutions in Pakistan. The commission also facilitated the development of higher educational system in the country with the main purpose of upgrading the universities and degree awarding institutes in the country to be focal point of the high learning of education, research and development. Over several years, it has played an important and leading role towards building a knowledge-based economy in Pakistan by giving out hundreds of doctoral scholarships for education abroad every year. History 1947–1971: Genesis and development At the time of establishment of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the country had only one institution of higher learning, University of the Punjab and among forty colleges expanded to four provinces of Pakistan. Education policy revised by Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan, the government established various universities and colleges in all over the country. The same year, Mohammad Ali Jinnah held a National Education Conference (also known as Pakistan Education Conference) of academicians and state holders to revise the policy of higher education in the country, as he stated: Many recommendations were directed and accepted by the government to established the University Grants Commission as a federal regulatory institution. Efforts led by Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy led to the imposition of Soviet-oriented first five-year plans which explained the first official education policy in 1956. The first plan was an attempt to make education development suitable for the socio-economic development in the country. In the 1960s, the financial policies and economic programs introduced by President of Pakistan Ayub Khan greatly emphasized to importance of higher education in the country. A significant proportion of the budget was actually spent to promote higher education efforts in the country. Thesis written by Usman Ali Isani pointed out that 912 million rupees were spent annually for the fiscal