Higher education: Celebrating gains while confronting the unfinished agenda

India's higher education boom has expanded access and research, but bridging the skills gap and improving quality will be key as the system shifts from mass expansion to excellence

India’s higher-education ecosystem is a pivotal element of its development framework. The most demonstrable success of the sector in the last decade has been the democratisation of access or “massification” of education. According to sociologist Martin Trow's framework, India is in the “mass education” phase and is advancing towards “universal education”. A country enters the “massification” stage when its gross enrolment ratio (GER) crosses 15 per cent, a threshold India crossed around 2010. Its GER in higher education is 29.5 per cent, with a target of 50 per cent by 2035 under the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The country boasts one of the largest education systems, with around 45 million students across nearly 70,000 institutions. The number of premier higher education institutions (HEIs) has expanded significantly, including 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), 21 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and 20 All-India Institutes of Medical Sciences (Aiims), as well as the establishment of two international IIT campuses in Zanzibar and Abu Dhabi. 

India’s approach to massification of higher education is unique, relying significantly on private institutions, which make up 65-70 per cent of the system. This transformation has greatly expanded capacity. Additionally, affirmative action and targeted scholarship schemes have widened the net for marginalised communities. The gender parity index has crossed 1.01, indicating that women are enrolling in higher education at rates higher than their share of the population. 

The introduction of the “Digital University” concept, featuring innovative platforms such as SWAYAM and the National Programme on Technology-Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), has empowered universities to enrol students virtually, thereby making education more accessible. The introduction of the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) has further dismantled geographical barriers, enabling students in remote regions to access course credits from leading institutions. The ABC now covers 2,660 HEIs, with over 46 million Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) IDs created, including 22 million IDs with credits. 

With the strong foundation of inclusivity, the innovation pillar is being built. Indian universities are moving towards becoming research hubs. The IITs, IIMs and the Indian Institutes of Science (IISc) are incubating thousands of startups, effectively creating a “lab-to-market” pipeline. Further, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) aims to receive ₹50,000 crore in 2023-28 through the ANRF Fund, Innovation Fund, Science and Engineering Research Fund, and Special Purpose Funds. The ANRF is designed to strengthen the link between academia and industry and to promote high-impact research aligned with national priorities. 

The proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2025, seeks to advance reforms in the higher education regulatory space. It proposes replacing fragmented, overlapping regulations with a unified, technology-driven, single-window system that substantially reduces compliance burdens and delays. The proposed transparent, student-centric systems will improve access to high-quality HEIs, thereby increasing GER. 

These achievements are notable. Equally, there is still work to be done and challenges to manage ahead. Massification comes with consequences. It inevitably breaks the balance of the “iron triangle” of education – access, cost, and quality. Experience suggests that sustaining all three simultaneously is rare. India is now living this tension. As educational access increases, quality must be maintained. With degrees becoming more common, their value diminishes, a phenomenon known as “credential inflation”. This can diminish their signalling value in the job market. This trend is evident in India, where qualifications are losing exclusivity and prestige as more people attain them, prompting employers to demand advanced degrees for roles once filled by bachelor’s holders, thereby delaying students’ entry into the workforce. 

Further, massification is producing a large number of degree holders, but with insufficient job-ready skills.  While we have massified “degrees”, massification of “skills” remains a work in progress. Industry surveys consistently point to weak job readiness, limited internship exposure, and minimal use of live industry projects across much of the higher education landscape. For example, a recent TeamLease Edtech report shows that 75 per cent of HEIs lack industry-readiness, as reflected in placement outcomes, with only 16.7 per cent achieving 76-100 per cent placements within six months of graduation. Only 25 per cent of HEIs use live industry projects, while 26 per cent integrate internships. 

This divide is not accidental. Universities, industry, and government often operate in silos, with distinct goals, resulting in a system that awards qualifications but struggles to translate knowledge into productivity. There is a need for strong, continuous interaction among government, industry, and academia, as outlined in the “Triple Helix Innovation Model”. This framework fosters a synergistic network in which universities generate knowledge, industry commercialises it, and government provides strategic direction and funding. 

India has taken steps in this direction through initiatives such as the Professor of Practice (PoP) framework, which enables experienced industry professionals to teach at higher education institutions. However, challenges remain, including a lack of motivation among industry leaders to join academia due to short contractual tenure (typically up to three years, extendable to four), the disqualification of retired academicians from applying for the PoP, and strict eligibility criteria for appointment. Further, rapid massification necessitates infrastructure and support systems. These constraints must be revisited. 

Universities must graduate from being mere degree-granting organisations to become crucibles of critical thought and innovation. Our students must be job-ready, with vocational education becoming a matter of choice rather than a “last-resort” option.  Germany’s dual-education model offers a relevant template in which classroom learning is synchronised with industry apprenticeships. To bridge the gap between the current reality and the 2047 vision, we must pivot from “expansion” to “excellence”. Expansion has been a necessary precondition. The time has come to consolidate the gains of expansion and enable and foster excellence. 

The blueprint is in place in the form of the NEP. Sustained implementation will bring success. 

Nageswaran is chief economic advisor to the Government of India; Guru is an Indian Economic Service officer. Views are personal.