Higher education in India is among the largest globally, reflecting a rich heritage and future aspirations. Institutions like IITs and IIMs are globally recognised, with India leading in the QS Asia Rankings 2024. Despite increasing enrolments and initiatives like NEP 2020, challenges such as limited investment, access disparities, weak research output, and skill gaps persist.

To strengthen higher education, India must consolidate regulation, expand access through MOOCs and scholarships, promote research, adopt digital innovations, and enhance international collaborations. Boosting vocational education, setting up Centres of Excellence, and improving financing models are key to building an inclusive, globally competitive higher education ecosystem.

Higher Education in India Overview

The term ‘higher education’ with respect to India denotes the tertiary level education that is imparted after 12 years of schooling. This includes undergraduate courses such as bachelor's degrees, postgraduate courses such as master's degrees and doctoral programs, as well as professional courses.

• India’s higher education system, one of the largest globally, reflects a rich legacy and ambitious future goals. 
• Institutions like the IITs and IIMs are internationally recognised, and India leads the QS World University Rankings for Asia 2024 in terms of representation.

Higher Education System in India Current Status

All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2021–22, released in January 2024, highlights significant growth in student enrolment, rising to 4.33 crore, with notable progress in women's enrolment, gross enrolment ratio (GER), and gender parity index (GPI). The data also underscores the popularity of disciplines like arts, science, and engineering, and the primacy of government institutions in higher education.

• Student Enrolment: As of 2021–22, total student enrollment in higher education institutions has reached 4.33 crore, marking an increase from 4.14 crore in 2020–21 and 3.42 crore in 2014–15.
• Women's Enrolment: The number of women pursuing higher education now stands at 2.07 crore, reflecting a remarkable 32% rise compared to 1.5 crore in 2014–15. 
  • Women make up the majority at the postgraduate level, accounting for 55.4% of total enrolments.
• Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and Gender Parity Index (GPI): The GER for the 18–23 age group is recorded at 28.4%. 
  • Meanwhile, the Gender Parity Index (GPI) , which shows the ratio of female GER to male GER, is 1.01, indicating that the participation of women is slightly higher than that of men at the national level.
• Enrolment by Discipline: At the undergraduate level, the Bachelor of Arts (BA) program remains the most popular, drawing 34.2% of students. This is followed by science (14.8%), commerce (13.3%), and engineering and technology (11.8%).
  • At the postgraduate stage, social sciences lead with an enrolment of approximately 10.8 lakh students.
  • For PhD programs, engineering emerges as the top discipline in terms of enrollment, followed by science and social sciences.

• Primacy of Government Institutions: 73.7% of all students attend government universities, which make up only 58.6% of all universities.
  • State public universities have the largest share of enrollment (around 31%) among government-owned universities.
    

Higher Education Institutions Classification

Higher educational institutions in India include universities, colleges, and other stand-alone institutions. The universities award their own degrees, and colleges award degrees through the universities with which they are affiliated. Universities awarding their degrees are classified into five types based on their management:

• Central Universities: Established through an Act of Parliament. There are currently 20 central universities across the country. The President of India serves as the Visitor to all these universities. 
  • Example: University of Delhi and Allahabad University.
• State Universities: Set up by the respective State Legislatures. India has around 215 state universities.
  • Example: University of Calcutta and the University of Madras.
• Private Universities: Established by a sponsoring body through either a State Act or a Central Act. The sponsoring body can be a society registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860, a public trust, or a company registered under the Companies Act of 1956. 
  • Example: BITS Pilani, which is funded and operated by the Birla Group Trust.
• Deemed-to-be Universities: Institutions that, while not officially classified as universities, are recognised for their high academic standards and are granted university status by the Central Government based on the recommendation of the UGC.
  • These institutions enjoy autonomy in setting their syllabus, admission criteria, and fee structures. 
  • Example: Manipal Academy of Higher Education and Symbiosis International Education Centre.
• Institutions of National Importance: Play a critical role in producing highly skilled professionals in various fields and are established through an Act of Parliament. These institutions have the authority to award degrees independently without affiliation to any university.
  • Example: Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), and the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

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Higher Education Ecosystem in India Institutional Framework

Different regulatory bodies, such as University Grants Commission (UGC),  National Medical Commission (NMC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the Bar Council India (BCI) manage different professional courses.

• University Grants Commission (UGC): Established in 1953 and became a statutory organisation by a parliament act in 1956. Coordinates, determines and maintains the standards of teaching, examination, and research in university education.
• National Medical Commission (NMC): Established through the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which succeeded the Medical Council of India.To improve access to quality and affordable medical education. To ensure the availability of adequate and high-quality medical professionals in all parts of the country.
• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE): National-level Apex Advisory Body for technical education by the provisions of the AICTE Act, 1987.Promotion of Quality in Technical Education, Planning and Coordinated Development of Technical Education System.
• Bar Council of India (BCI): Statutory body to regulate and represent the Indian bar association.It also sets standards for legal education and grants recognition to Universities.
  • Accreditation Bodies: National Board of Accreditation (NBA) established by AICTE.
  • National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) was established by UGC. 

Higher Education in India Challenges

Higher education institutions in India face persistent challenges such as inadequate investment, disparities in access, weak accreditation systems, and low research output. These issues, along with global competitiveness gaps and limited industry-skill integration, continue to hinder the sector’s full potential.

• Inadequate investment: The government’s expenditure on higher education is a mere 2.7% of the GDP against the recommended 6% by the Kothari Commission.
• Disparities in access to higher education: Empirical evidence points towards the persistence of economic, social, locational, and regional disparities in access to higher education.
• Limitations in accreditation: NAAC and NBA are currently reeling under the issue of inadequate capacity to bring all HEIs into the accreditation framework.
• Learning outcomes and teaching outcomes: Deficiency of prerequisites amongst students to take up programs and the subsequent failure to achieve desired outcomes is much prevalent. 
• Research and innovation: India lags behind other countries in terms of research output, innovation, and patent registrations. Also, there is a lack of adequate funding in research and innovation.
• Lack of global standards of excellence: This has a direct impact on India’s capacity to reap its demographic dividend and acts as an impediment for HEIs to feature in top global rankings of institutions.
• Limitations in attracting students from abroad: India ranks third in the world in terms of having students pursuing higher education from abroad. However, globally, India occupies the 26th position among the top destinations for international student mobility.
• Absence of convergence between higher education and the skill ecosystem: Higher education contributes only 4% in offering skill training, while the Ministry of Skill Development and Employment (MSDE) contributes 58%.
  •  The MSDE hasn’t been involved in the higher education system either.

Higher Education in India Government Initiatives

The Indian government has taken several initiatives to improve the higher education system in the country. Some of the major initiatives are:

• National Education Policy (NEP) 2020: Aims to revamp the education system with a focus on multidisciplinary learning, skill development, and promoting research and innovation.
  • Targets to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 50% by 2035.
• Institutions of Eminence (IoE) Scheme: Launched in 2018 to grant full autonomy to 20 selected institutions to elevate them to global standards.
• National Credit Framework (NCrF): Seeks to integrate academic education and skill development across school and higher education.
  • Students’ credits will be stored digitally in the Academic Bank of Credits, accessible through Digilocker.
• Revamped Accreditation and Ranking Systems: National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) (launched in 2015) ranks institutions across key parameters.
  • National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has been restructured to strengthen institutional quality assurance.
• Digital Initiatives: SWAYAM platform offers free online courses from school to postgraduate level.
  • National Digital Library of India provides wide access to educational resources digitally.
• Study in India Program: Initiated in 2018 to attract international students by offering scholarships and streamlining the admission process.
• Entry of Foreign Institutions: UGC 2023 regulations permit the top 500 ranked global universities to establish branch campuses in India, fostering global collaborations.
• SHE under INSPIRE Program: The Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) under the INSPIRE scheme encourages students to pursue basic and natural sciences.
  • Offers financial support to students aspiring for research careers at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Higher Education in India Way Forward

Strengthening higher education in India requires regulatory consolidation, widening access, boosting research and innovation, and improving financing mechanisms. Focus on skills development, technology adoption, and international collaboration is essential to create a globally competitive and inclusive education ecosystem.

• • Regulation and Accreditation: Consolidating the regulatory structure of this sector by eliminating the overlapping regulations.
    • Widening the accreditation network and acknowledging the diversity of standards during the assessment. 

• Expanding access: Enhancing access to vulnerable communities by providing scholarships, fee reimbursement, etc.

• • • Expanding access to cater to geographically underserved areas through Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) and Open and Distance Learning (ODL).
  • Financing higher education: Generating funds via new modes such as opening up of sophisticated research equipment to industry and other external users which will improve their utilization and also earn revenues.
    • Providing financial incentives like One-time financial grants to support filling up existing vacancies of faculty and One-time Catch-up grant to facilitate infrastructural upgradation.

• Effective pedagogies and assessment practices: Formulating a National Higher Education Qualifications Framework and Learning Outcome-based Curriculum Framework. 

• • • Create institutional mechanisms for periodic review of curricula by formulating guidelines for the implementation of the revised curriculum.

• Promotion of research and innovation: Building a robust ecosystem of research networks by reaching out to local higher education institutions.

• • • Setting up a research funding body at the national level, which aims at achieving excellence in knowledge creation, people, and Research & Innovation infrastructure.

• Skills, Employability, and Entrepreneurship: Incorporating a formal vocational education structure into the college system with a credit structure that applies to both vocational and non-vocational education.

• • • Revamping the curriculum for vocational education to incorporate skill courses with credits.

• Technology for better reachability: Promoting Research in Edu Tech by setting up Centres of Excellence (CoE) in premier Institutions along with an Incubation support facility for startups.

• • • Developing platforms using AI that could offer personalized learning paths, adaptive assessments, and real-time progress tracking to enhance the learning experience and outcomes.

• Internationalisation of higher education: Expanding academic collaboration with Higher Education Institutions abroad for knowledge sharing and research collaboration.

• • Promoting program mobility and cross-border delivery of higher education programs.

Higher Education in India PYQs

Q1. The quality of higher education in India requires major improvements to make it internationally competitive. Do you think that the entry of foreign educational institutions would help improve the quality of higher and technical education in the country? Discuss. (UPSC 2015)

Q2. National Education Policy 2020 is in conformity with the Sustainable Development Goal-4 (2030). It intends to restructure and reorient the education system in India. Critically examine the statement. (UPSC 2020)

Q3. How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate on your answer. (UPSC 2020)

Q4. Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail. (UPSC 2021)

Q5. Which of the following provisions of the Constitution does India have a bearing on Education?(UPSC 2012)

1. Directive Principles of State Policy
2. Rural and Urban Local Bodies
3. Fifth Schedule
4. Sixth Schedule
5. Seventh Schedule

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3, 4 and 5 only

(c) 1, 2 and 5 only

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Ans: (d)

Q6.What is the aim of the programme ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’? (UPSC 2017)

(a) Achieving 100% literacy by promoting collaboration between voluntary organisations and the government's education system, and local communities.

(b) Connecting institutions of higher education with local communities to address development challenges through appropriate technologies.

(c) Strengthening India’s scientific research institutions in order to make India a scientific and technological power.

(d) Developing human capital by allocating special funds for health care and education of rural and urban poor, and organising skill development programmes and vocational training for them.

Ans: (b)