This paper examines the underlying relationship between corporate social responsibility and higher educational institutions and calls for a more clearly defined goals for universities to involve themselves with the wider world where the objective is not only to increase the profit and maximize the wealth but also to improve the environmental and social impact of doing the business. It analyses the current status of higher education in India, strength and the challenges faced by this industry and aims to establish that, by incorporating CSR into the governance of higher education institutions it can empower and transform the society especially in a developing country like India where significant disparity exists in terms of access, equity and quality of higher education.