For the first time, undergraduate enrolments decline in India
AISHE data show a first-ever fall in undergraduate enrolment in India, while total higher-education enrolment still rose marginally.
- The survey is the government's recurring source for higher-education enrolment data in India.
- Undergraduate enrolment fell for the first time in the survey series, while total higher-education enrolment still increased slightly.
- Male enrolment fell and female enrolment rose modestly in the undergraduate segment.
- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, and Delhi showed declines, while Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Karnataka, and Odisha recorded increases.
India's All India Survey on Higher Education data for 2022-23 and 2023-24 show a first-ever decline in undergraduate enrolment since the survey began in 2011. The trend matters for UPSC because undergraduate enrolment is the largest component of India's higher-education system and is closely linked to human capital formation, gender equity, and the demographic dividend.
What happened now
The delayed release of the All India Survey on Higher Education reports revealed that overall higher-education enrolment in India still increased, but the rise was the smallest recorded so far. The decline was concentrated in undergraduate courses, which account for more than three-quarters of total enrolment.
UPSC can ask why undergraduate enrolment fell despite overall higher-education growth, what the All India Survey on Higher Education measures, and what the trend implies for access, gender parity, and state-level disparities in higher education.
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