Purpose: Over the past few decades, Indian education system has witnessed a paradigm shift, leading to the replacement of the traditional education system. The traditional education system focused on the holistic development of the student, with a focus on enhancing the student creativity and capability to innovate. This shift leads one to ask whether the modern education system still nurtures creativity. This paper aims to examine the impact of organizational culture in colleges on the creativity of students in India. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was administered to 174 students from public and private colleges. The relationship between creativity and locus of control of students was examined and discussed. Findings: The results demonstrated that the organizational culture did not impact the creativity of students in India. The Indian higher education system will have to first overcome other systemic issues and bottlenecks to encourage creativity among students. Research limitations/implications: The self-report questionnaires used in the study can at best assess aptitudes or tendencies but may not be the most appropriate method to capture actual events or dynamic processes. Self-report questionnaires must be supported and corroborated by recording actual study behavior to establish validity. Originality/value: The findings of this study are useful for practitioners and policymakers to developing a culture conducive to creativity in students.