The Ministry of Education of India released its latest All-India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) report which is an annual exercise and provides an updated status and growth trends about students, faculty, subject choices, infrastructure and other parameters of higher education across the country.
India has the world’s second largest higher education system with over 58,000 higher education institutions. Nearly 2,400 higher education institutions were added during 2021-22.
There are now 43.3 million students enrolled for higher education, up by nearly 2 million students in just one year. Nearly 79 per cent of students are enrolled on undergraduate courses with 12 per cent at the postgraduate (master’s degree) level. Only 0.5 per cent were studying for a PhD, with most of the rest studying for sub-degree diploma programmes.
Compared to five years ago, an additional 6.7 million students have enrolled which amounts to an 18 per cent increase. The top 6 states which contribute to more than 50 per cent of the total student enrolment are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan. These States are also home to 51.4 per cent of the total population in the age-group 18-23 years.
The student participation rate or the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education has increased to 28.4 per cent. This is a 1.1 per cent point increase from 2020-21. The States/Union Territories with highest GER are Chandigarh, Puducherry, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Telangana.
The number of female students has gone up to 20.7 million in 2021-22 with an addition of 600,000 female students in one year. While male students make up a slight majority overall, with around 52 per cent of total enrolment, the Gender Parity Index is 1.01 indicating a slightly higher gross enrolment rate among female students. The difference between these two indicators is because India has more male than female citizens in the relevant age groups. Female enrolment is significantly higher in Kerala, Telangana, Haryana, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya and Chhattisgarh, and at the postgraduate level female students make up the majority with more than 55 per cent of students.
The largest broad subject area at undergraduate level is Arts (34%), followed by Science (15%), Commerce (13%) and Engineering & Technology (12%). At the postgraduate (master’s degree) level the top broad subject area is Social Science (21%) followed by Science (15%) and Management (14%), and at PhD level the largest number of students are enrolled in Engineering &Technology (25%) followed by Science (21%).
The total number of foreign students in Indian institutions was around 46,000 in 2021-22, which dropped by 2 per cent compared to the previous year. Foreign students came from 170 countries with the top senders being Nepal (28%), Afghanistan (7%), the United States (6%), Bangladesh (6%), the UAE (5%), and Bhutan (3%). Around three quarters of foreign students are enrolled in undergraduate courses, and the most popular subjects for this group are Technology, Business Administration, Science, and Engineering.
Indian Ministry of Education has been conducting AISHE since 2011 and is considered the main source of providing comprehensive statistics for higher education in the country.
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