Higher education enrollment in India crosses 4 crore mark

The enrollment in higher education institutions increased to 4.14 crore during 2020-21, crossing the 4 crore mark for the first time, according to the government’s All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-2021.

It registered an increase of 7.5% from 2019-20 and 21% from 2014-15.

The female enrollment has increased to 2.01 crore from 1.88 crore in 2019-20. There has been an increase of around 44 lakh (28%) in their number since 2014-15, the survey report said.

The Ministry of Education has been conducting the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) since 2011, covering all higher educational institutions located in the country. The survey collects detailed information on different parameters such as student enrolment, teachers’ data, infrastructural information, financial information, etc.

For the first time, in AISHE 2020-21, the higher education institutions (HEIs), have filled the data online through the Web Data Capture Format (DCF) developed by the Department of Higher Education with the help of the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Increase in enrollment of female, SC, and ST students

“The total enrollment in higher education has increased to nearly 4.14 crore in 2020-21 from 3.85 crore in 2019-20. Since 2014-15, there has been an increase of around 72 lakh in the enrollment (21%). The female enrolment has increased to 2.01 crore from 1.88 crore in 2019-20,” the Ministry of Education said in a statement.

“The percentage of female enrollment to total enrolment has increased from 45% in 2014-15 to around 49% in 2020-21. As per 2011 population projections for the 18-23 years age group, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) has increased to 27.3 from 25.6 in 2019-20,” it added.

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According to the survey, there was a significant increase of 28% in enrollment of SC students, and 38% in enrolment of female SC Students in 2020-21, as compared to 2014-15.

“There has been a substantial increase of 47% in the enrollment of ST students and 63.4% increase in the enrollment of female ST Students in 2020-21, compared to 2014-15. The enrolment in Institutes of National Importance (INIs) has increased by nearly 61% during the period 2014-15 to 2020-21,” said the ministry.

“Enrollment has increased in 2020-21 compared to 2014-15 in the specialised universities relating to Defence, Sanskrit, Biotechnology, Forensics, Design, Sports, etc. The total number of pass-outs has increased to 95.4 Lakh in 2020-21 as against 94 Lakh in 2019-20,” it said.