NEW DELHI: India’s higher education system has crossed a new threshold, with total enrolment reaching 4.50 crore students in 2023-24. The striking shift is that women gross enrolment ratio (GER) has risen to 31.2% compared to 28.9% for men, a trend that has continued for seven years, according to the latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE).
The survey found that female students account for 49.7% of total higher education enrolment. GER for all students aged 18-23 years reached 30% in 2023-24, compared with 23.7 in 2014-15.
The rise shows wider access to colleges over the past decade, though the country remains below the National Education Policy target of 50% GER by 2035.
Higher education expansion has largely happened at the undergraduate level. About 76.8% of students are enrolled in undergraduate programmes, while postgraduate courses account for 12.9%. Arts remains the largest stream with 32.1% of undergraduate enrolment, followed by science at 13.5%, engineering and technology at 12.9%, and commerce at 12%.
The growth has reached disadvantaged communities. SC enrolment increased to 69.7 lakh students in 2023-24, rising 51.4% since 2014-15. ST enrolment reached 28.8 lakh, a 75.7% increase over the same period. OBC enrolment rose to 1.8 crore, accounting for 40.1% of total enrolment.
The rise among women from these groups has been faster. ST female enrolment more than doubled since 2014-15, increasing by 101.8%, while SC female enrolment rose 66.9%. India now has 59,553 higher education institutions participating in AISHE, including 1,278 universities, 46,468 colleges and 11,787 standalone institutions. Government universities still account for most university enrolment at 68.1%.
Access remains uneven across regions. Bengaluru Urban has the highest number of colleges with 1,148, followed by Jaipur with 742, Pune with 517 and Hyderabad with 465. India had 17.3 lakh teachers in higher education in 2023-24, with women making up 44.9% of faculty. Female teachers increased to 7.8 lakh from 5.7 lakh in 2014-15. The pupil-teacher ratio for regular higher education stood at 22.
India’s higher education growth has coincided with wider digital access and policy changes. The Ministry of Education launched AISHE in 2013 to create a regular database after earlier higher education statistics remained fragmented and irregular. The survey now collects information across more than 1,000 fields covering institutions, students, teachers, infrastructure and finances.