The Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education released the 13th and 14th editions of the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for 2022-23 and 2023-24 on 8 July 2026. Total student enrollment touched 4.50 crore in 2023-24, up from 3.42 crore in 2014-15, while the Gross Enrolment Ratio crossed 30 for the first time. Women drove most of this growth, pushing the Gender Parity Index to 1.08.
What Is the All India Survey on Higher Education?
AISHE stands for All India Survey on Higher Education. It is an annual, web based count of every institution in India that provides education beyond Class 12. The Ministry of Education started it in 2010-11 to create one reliable database for planning and policy.
The survey covers three types of institutions. Universities and university level institutions are bodies that can award degrees under a central or state law. Colleges cannot award degrees on their own and are affiliated to a university. Standalone institutions are not affiliated to any university and run diploma level courses such as polytechnics, teacher training institutes, nursing institutes, institutes for Post Graduate Diploma in Management and institutes run directly by central ministries.
Institutions fill data on the AISHE portal through an online Data Capture Format (DCF) developed with the National Informatics Centre (NIC). They report student enrollment, teachers, programmes, examination results, finances and infrastructure. From this raw data, the Ministry calculates key indicators such as Institution Density, Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) and Gender Parity Index (GPI). AISHE is the 14th edition for 2023-24, which shows how long this series has run without a break.
Participation is voluntary and self reported, but coverage is very high. In 2022-23, 56,180 out of 60,380 registered institutions responded. In 2023-24, 59,533 out of 64,756 registered institutions responded. In both years the response rate was more than 90 percent.
How Many Universities, Colleges and Standalone Institutions Does India Have?
India’s higher education network has expanded sharply in ten years. The number of registered universities rose from 760 in 2014-15 to 1,289 in 2023-24, a rise of 69.6 percent. In 2022-23 alone, 1,213 universities were registered, which means 76 new universities were added in a single year to 2023-24.
Colleges grew from 38,498 in 2014-15 to 48,246 in 2023-24, an addition of 9,748 colleges or 25.3 percent. In 2023-24 itself, 1,622 colleges were newly registered. Standalone institutions rose by about 24 percent over the decade to reach 15,221 in 2023-24. Out of the registered institutions in 2023-24, 1,278 universities, 46,468 colleges and 11,787 standalone institutions actually uploaded data.
The table below captures the ten year change in institutional scale.
| Institution Type | 2014-15 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | Decade Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universities | 760 | 1,213 | 1,289 | 69.6 percent |
| Colleges | 38,498 | 46,624 | 48,246 | 25.3 percent |
| Standalone institutions | About 12,200 | 12,543 | 15,221 | About 24 percent |
Of the 1,289 universities in 2023-24, 346 are affiliating universities that have colleges attached to them. There are 18 universities meant exclusively for women. Most colleges remain privately managed. About 82.9 percent of colleges are private aided or unaided and they teach about 71.4 percent of all college students, while government colleges form a small minority. This explains why private colleges continue to carry most of the enrollment load at the college level.
How Much Has Student Enrollment Grown in a Decade?
Total enrollment in higher education rose from 3.42 crore in 2014-15 to 4.46 crore in 2022-23 and 4.50 crore in 2023-24. This is an increase of 1.08 crore students or 31.5 percent in ten years. Between the two latest years, enrollment rose by 3.7 lakh students or 0.8 percent.
Women account for almost half of all students today. Female enrollment rose from 1.57 crore in 2014-15 to 2.18 crore in 2022-23 and 2.24 crore in 2023-24, a growth of 42.2 percent. Women now form 49.7 percent of total enrollment, at 2.24 crore out of 4.50 crore. In the last two years alone, about 17 lakh new students were added, and nearly all of this net addition came from women.
Most students study at the undergraduate level. About 76.8 percent of students, or nearly 3.5 crore, are in undergraduate programmes, which are the first degree courses after Class 12 such as BA, BSc and BCom. About 12.9 percent are in postgraduate programmes, which are second level degree courses such as MA, MSc and MBA. About 7.4 percent are in diploma and certificate courses. At the undergraduate level, Arts attracts the largest share at 32.1 percent, followed by Science at 13.5 percent, Engineering and Technology at 12.9 percent and Commerce at 12.0 percent. At the postgraduate level, Social Sciences at 18.6 percent and Management at 18.2 percent lead enrollment.
What Is Gross Enrolment Ratio and Where Does India Stand?
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is the total student enrollment in higher education expressed as a percentage of the population in the 18 to 23 years age group. It measures what share of college age youth is actually studying in college or university. AISHE calculates it using population projections based on the 2011 Census, since no fresh Census has taken place.
India’s GER has climbed steadily from 23.7 in 2014-15 to 29.5 in 2022-23 and 30.0 in 2023-24. This is the first time the national figure has touched 30. Female GER has moved faster than the average. It rose from 22.9 in 2014-15 to 30.2 in 2022-23 and 31.2 in 2023-24. Male GER stood at 28.9 in 2023-24, unchanged from 2022-23. The gap between women and men has therefore widened from 0.2 percentage points in 2021-22 to 2.3 percentage points in 2023-24.
GER for disadvantaged groups has also improved, though gaps remain. GER for Scheduled Caste (SC) students rose from 18.9 to 27.8 over the decade. GER for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students rose from 13.5 to 22.8. Both remain below the national average of 30, which points to the need for continued support in access and retention.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 sets a target of 50 percent GER by 2035, including vocational education. With the current GER at 30, India needs to add about 3 crore more seats to reach roughly 7.5 crore enrollments for a population base of about 15 crore in the 18 to 23 group. That will require annual enrollment growth of about 4.7 percent, faster than the recent pace of about 2 to 4 percent.
What Is Gender Parity Index and Why Is 1.08 Significant?
Gender Parity Index (GPI) is the ratio of female GER to male GER. It measures whether women and men have equal access to higher education. A value of 1 means full parity. A value above 1 means women are enrolled at a higher rate than men. A value below 1 means men lead.
India’s GPI stood at 1.08 in 2023-24. It has stayed above 1.0 for seven years in a row, which means women have outpaced men in access since 2017-18. The index slipped to 1.01 in 2021-22, the year affected by the pandemic, and then recovered to 1.04 in 2022-23 and 1.08 in 2023-24, its highest recent level.
The parity story is strongest among disadvantaged groups. GPI for SC students is 1.11 and for ST students is 1.08 in 2023-24. SC women are therefore enrolling at a higher rate relative to SC men than the national average. Women also form 56.2 percent of postgraduate enrollment, which shows they are staying on after the first degree. They form 50.3 percent of SC enrollment, 52.3 percent of ST enrollment and about 49 percent of OBC enrollment. In states such as Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, female enrollment is now higher than male enrollment in absolute numbers.
How Have Social Groups, STEM Enrollment and Faculty Strength Changed?
Enrollment among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes has grown faster than the average. SC enrollment rose from 46.07 lakh to 69.72 lakh, a rise of 51.4 percent. ST enrollment rose from 16.41 lakh to 28.83 lakh, a rise of 75.7 percent. OBC enrollment rose from 1.13 crore to 1.80 crore, a rise of 60.2 percent. In 2023-24, SC students formed 15.5 percent of total enrollment, ST students formed 6.4 percent and OBC students formed 40.1 percent. The rest, about 38 percent, belonged to other communities.
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. These are courses linked closely to research, industry and technical jobs. STEM enrollment rose from 91.5 lakh in 2014-15 to 1.02 crore in 2023-24. Women improved their share from 38.4 percent to 44 percent in the same period. Women now outnumber men in the Science stream, though their share in Engineering and Technology at the undergraduate level remains lower at about 31.1 percent.
The teaching workforce has also expanded. The total number of teachers rose from 14.73 lakh in 2014-15 to 17.32 lakh in 2023-24. Female teachers rose from 5.69 lakh to 7.78 lakh, and now form 44.9 percent of faculty, while male teachers form 55.1 percent. The Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR), which is the average number of students per teacher in regular mode, stands at 22. Representation gaps persist at senior levels, with SC teachers at about 10 percent and ST teachers at about 3 percent of faculty, below their share in enrollment.
AISHE 2023-24 also tracked NEP reforms for the first time through a special module. About 55 percent of universities took part in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), which is India’s official system for ranking colleges and universities. About 56 percent have started four year undergraduate programmes and 58 percent have adopted the National Credit Framework. About 65 percent have set up research and development cells. The road to 50 percent GER will now depend less on building new institutions, since registered institutions already number 64,756, and more on filling seats, improving school to college transition and adding teachers.
Key Takeaways
- The AISHE 2022-23 and 2023-24 reports were released on 8 July 2026 by the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.
- Total enrollment reached 4.50 crore in 2023-24, up 31.5 percent from 3.42 crore in 2014-15.
- The Gross Enrolment Ratio touched 30 in 2023-24, with female GER at 31.2 and male GER at 28.9.
- The Gender Parity Index stood at 1.08 in 2023-24 and has stayed above 1.0 for seven consecutive years since 2017-18.
- The number of universities rose to 1,289, colleges to 48,246 and standalone institutions to 15,221 in 2023-24.
- STEM enrollment rose to 1.02 crore, with women’s share improving from 38.4 percent to 44 percent over the decade.
