Higher education enrolment reaches record 45 mn, but growth slows: AISHE

India's higher education enrolment touched a record 45 million in 2023-24, but annual growth slowed sharply even as the Gross Enrolment Ratio and female participation continued to improve

About 370,000 additional students joined colleges and universities in 2023-24, a little over a fifth of the 1.3 million students added in the previous year, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023-24 and 2022-23 reports released by the education ministry on Wednesday. The annual growth slowed despite India's higher education enrolment rising to a record 45 million in 2023-24.

 

The survey showed that total enrolment increased by 0.8 per cent year-on-year to 45 million in 2023-24 from 44.6 million in 2022-23, compared with a 3 per cent increase in the previous year. Despite the slower growth, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for the 18-23 age group improved to 30.0 per cent from 29.5 per cent a year earlier. Female GER rose to 31.2 per cent from 30.2 per cent, remaining higher than male GER for the seventh consecutive year.

 

 

The annual AISHE survey is the government's principal database on higher education and tracks enrolment, institutions, faculty, infrastructure, and other key indicators across universities and colleges in the country.

 

India's higher education system continued to expand in terms of institutions. A total of 1,289 universities, 48,246 colleges, and 15,221 standalone institutions were registered under AISHE in 2023-24, including 1,622 newly registered colleges during the year. Of the responding colleges, 70 per cent were private unaided institutions, while government colleges accounted for 17.1 per cent.

 

The number of teachers rose to 1.73 million in 2023-24 from around 1.66 million in 2022-23, while the gender gap among faculty narrowed, with 82 female teachers for every 100 male teachers, compared with 79 a year earlier. Overall, women accounted for 44.9 per cent of the country's higher education faculty.

 

The survey also recorded growth in international student enrolment. The number of foreign students enrolled in Indian higher education institutions increased to 58,134 from 48,726 in the previous year, with students coming from 173 countries. Nepal remained the largest source country, accounting for 24.1 per cent of all foreign students, followed by the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Bangladesh.

 

The number of students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses crossed the one-crore mark in 2023-24, reaching 10.1 million, or 22.5 per cent of total higher education enrolment. The survey also showed that while STEM courses overall continued to have more male students, women outnumbered men in the science stream, highlighting a continuing gender divide between science and engineering disciplines.