what is graduate level education in india

• Student Register
• Institute Register
• Student Login
• Institute Login
• Visa/Mission Login

Study In India

• About Study In India
• 10 Reasons to Study In India
• Indian Higher Education

Discover India

• Things To Do In India
• Quick Facts
• Emerging India
• State-wise Course Details

Scholarships & Fellowships

• Study in India (SII)
• ASEAN Fellowship
• ICCR Scholarships
• Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC)
• Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme(ITEC)

Pillars of Strength

• India Rankings (NIRF)
• Institute of Eminence (IoE)
• Institute of National Importance (INI)
• National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
• National Board of Accreditation (NBA)
• Regulatory Bodies in Higher Education

• Study in India
• ABOUT INDIA HIGHER EDUCATION
• INSTITUTE RANKING
• GRADE CONVERSION

“ We owe a lot to the ancient Indians for teaching us how to count. Without which most modern scientific discoveries would have been impossible. ” - Albert Einstein

In today’s day and age, the premise that quality higher education is crucial for sustainable human development is undeniable. Higher education leads to acquiring analytical and problem-solving skills, ultimately helping humans to develop intellectual curiosity and character. It pushes the students to identify and set career goals that make them ready for professional setups. Therefore, a refined higher education enables economic, physical and social well-being to a student.

Indian Higher Education System

India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world that stands second in terms of the higher education network. The term ‘higher education’ with respect to India denotes the tertiary level education that is imparted after 12 years of schooling (10 years of primary education and 2 years of secondary education). The entire higher education ecosystem in India comprises around 1000+ universities and 42,000+ colleges imparting exceptional education. All these institutions fall under the purview of the Ministry of Education.

The institutions in India are furnished with state-of-the-art infrastructure, modern libraries, classrooms equipped with advanced amenities (such as smart class, computers, wifi-connectivity, etc). All in all, these top-grade resources facilitate interactive and 360-degree learning for the students. Due to these salient features, 3 Indian institutes namely, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have been featured in world top-ranking institutions lists. This solidifies the belief that India is emerging as a major education hub for both international and national students.

Over the years with the combined efforts of public and private players, Indian higher education has grown impressively. The top-notch learning methodology opted in Indian institutes lets the students expand their visualizing ability and encourages them to think out of the box. ... During the entire course of their higher education, the students can improve their critical thinking, oral and communication skills. Higher education is pivotal for all and the Government of India makes constant efforts to upgrade it. As a result, the Indian institutes invest significant resources and efforts to provide the students with experimental learning opportunities by arranging visits to real-world set-ups such as industrial sites. Such activities help the students to broaden their learning horizons and they are not limited to the conventional classroom education system. After the completion of their respective degree, the students come out as independent, passionate, skilled, learned and responsible individuals who are equipped to take up professional roles.

The Landscape of Indian Higher Education

The structure of Indian Higher Education is three-layered, consisting of Universities, Colleges and Courses. The universities and colleges work in unison with regulatory as well as accreditation bodies to deliver standardized education.

TYPES OF UNIVERSITIES

On the basis of management the universities are classified as:

Central Universities: These are set up through an Act in Parliament. The establishment and operation are funded by the Union Government.

State Universities - These are set up through an Act in the State Legislature. The state universities are primarily funded and operated by the State Government.

Private Universities - These are set up through an Act in the State Legislatures. It includes specialized institutions and multidisciplinary research universities.

Deemed Universities - These are well-performing institutes that are declared to be of equal standing as the universities by the Central Government on the advice of the Union Grants Commission (UGC).

Institutes of National Importance (INI) - These are eminent institutions of India that are known to develop highly skilled individuals. They are funded by the Government of India and include all the IITs, NITs and AIIMs institutes.

Note: Apart from the Institutes of National Importance, the UGC has set a recognition scheme for Indian higher education institutes (in 2017) according to which a total of 20 institutions will be granted the status Institute of Eminence. Until now 12 institutes have been granted this status.

The colleges enabling higher Study in India can be affiliated either with central or state universities. The private colleges are mostly affiliated with state universities. Further, there are autonomous colleges as well that enjoy autonomy in terms of deciding curriculum, admissions and examination process. But, they are also affiliated with a government university (central or state).

The courses offered in Indian higher education institutions can be generally classified into two categories:

STEM Courses - STEM is a broad term that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and it encompasses all the courses providing education in these disciplines. Instead of teaching the four disciplines separately, the purpose of STEM courses involves cohesive learning and it focuses on the practical application of the subjects. Effective education in STEM courses is not limited to theoretical learning but extends to experimental and research-based learning too. The well-equipped laboratories of Indian institutes enable the same and help the students to inculcate innovative, problem-solving and competent skills.

Non- STEM Courses - The courses offered in disciplines such as Commerce, Arts, Business Management, Humanities, and Social Affairs are termed non-STEM courses. Yet again, the Indian institutions are well equipped to provide education in these disciplines wherein the students can gain expertise in the subject of their choice. Non-STEM majors like humanities open a wide range of career opportunities where the skills, knowledge and deeper understanding are made applicable. Similarly, education, accounting, marketing, English, journalism, language studies, etc degrees all have plenty of uses for various professions. A few examples for career options under non-STEM courses include counselors, education administrators, teachers, clinical psychologists, art or creative director, etc.

The Regulatory Structure

The entire ecosystem of higher Study in India is primarily overseen by the following authorities-

UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION (UGC)

The main regulatory body that performs a range of tasks such as providing funds to the universities, establishing education standards for the universities and analysing the growth of the various higher education institutions. It is crucial for universities to meet the criteria set by UGC so as to enjoy degree-awarding authority.

ALL INDIA COUNCIL FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION (AICTE)

The regulatory body that coordinates, plans and develops technical education in the country.

Finally, the accreditation of the universities and colleges is overseen by the NAAC and NIRF.

The paradigm shift in the higher education system in India is aided by the integration of the latest innovation and technology. The transformed system focuses on the inclusive development of the learners and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 ensures the same. The main purpose of NEP 2020 is to implement and strengthen multidisciplinary, inclusive and technology-based learning that is accessible to all. It focuses on imparting higher education that enables personal accomplishment for students and prepares them to pave a good future. ... In addition to this, the policy highlights the need for the internationalization of higher education. For this, the Indian higher education institutions are being promoted on the world stage through programmes such as Study in India and International Students Offices. Furthermore, the NEP 2020 granted increased flexibility to the institutions according to which they have the right to create a curriculum and decide the internal assessment so as to execute an interactive learning experience for the students. In short, the underlying aim of the entire higher education system will be to attain global standards in terms of quality.India with its valuable and competitive education ecosystem is an attractive option for international students. Moreover, the freshly implemented policies further push the development of constructive skill-sets in the students. The overall culture, tradition, heritage, spirit, and inclination towards creativity and innovation make India a great study destination for higher education.

India is home to genius discoveries and innovations. Be it the discovery of Zero or the negative numbers, the concept was formulated on this land. This has continued till today. Brilliant projects planned and curated by young minds getting nurtured at Indian higher education institutions prove it. A few examples of the same are - SmartCane: a robust cane that helps users to detect any above-the-knee obstruction from a 3m distance, Solar-Powered Cold Storage, Zero-energy House, and Waste-for-Water Machine: dispenses clean drinking water in exchange for recyclable waste items. The competitive and holistic learning environment allows students to network and learns new skills. By the end of their academic journey, the students are well prepared to thrive in the real world. The Study in India partner institutes is home to some respected alumni. Some of them are even global leaders supervising the Fortune 500 companies. To name a few, Satya Nadella- CEO of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai -CEO of Google, and Ajaypal Singh Banga- President and CEO of MasterCard.

The University Grants Commission is the statutory body responsible for ensuring, maintaining and promoting the standards of Indian higher education institutions as per the prevailing global educational trends. Institute Ranking plays a fundamental role in building institutional position and receiving authorization from the UGC. The higher education institutes utilize the ranking parameters to bring about strategic and academic changes. Moreover, the international students planning to study in India can effectively use the ranking to assess the education standards of the institute they plan to go to.

Broad Framework For The Categorization of Universities

The UGC categorises the Indian institutions in broadly three categories:

CATEGORY- I UNIVERSITY

A university is recognised as Category - I if it fulfils one or more of the following parameters:

• Should have been accredited by NAAC with a score of 3.51 or above;
• Should have received a corresponding accreditation grade/ score from a reputed accreditation agency chosen by the UGC;
• Should have been ranked among the top 500 of reputed world rankings, such as Times Higher Education or QS.

CATEGORY - II UNIVERSITY

A university is recognised as Category - II if it fulfils one or more of the following parameters:

• Should have been accredited by NAAC with a score of 3.26 and above, up to 3.50; or,
• Should have received a corresponding accreditation grade/score from a reputed accreditation agency chosen by the UGC.

CATEGORY - III UNIVERSITY

A university is recognised as Category-III University if it doesn’t fall under the above two categories.

The Accrediting Organizations

The quality and standard assessment of higher education institutions are overseen primarily by two organizations NAAC and NIRF. A brief detail of both of them can be found below.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous organization set up by University Grants Commission and it is headquartered in Bengaluru. The main function of NAAC is to ensure that quality is the defining feature of higher Study in India. It facilitates performance assessment and inspection for volunteering higher education institutions through a series of parameters. The accreditation granted by NAAC helps the institutions to identify and amend their internal planning areas, resource allocation and weakness through an extensive review procedure. On the other hand, the students get reliable information in terms of quality education offered by the concerned institution.

Assessment Criteria: According to NAAC there are seven criteria that serve as the base for the assessment process of the higher education institutions. For a simplified approach, NAAC has classified the Higher Education Institutions into three categories namely- University, Autonomous College and Affiliated College for evaluating the quality standards. The major criteria for assessment are-

• Curricular Aspects
• Teaching-Learning and Evaluation
• Research, Innovations and Extension
• Infrastructure and Learning Resources
• Student Support and Progression
• Governance, Leadership and Management
• Institutional Values and Best Practices

Eligibility Criteria For Institutions: The higher education institutions that either have been in existence for six years or have a record of a minimum of two batches of graduated students can apply for the assessment and accreditation process by NAAC.

The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is the methodology approved and launched by the Ministry of Education (erstwhile known as Human Resource Development) that outlines the procedure of ranking higher education institutes across India. The methodology revolves around ranking the institutions based on five broad categories which are sub-categorised as well.

For the simplified approach, the institutions are grouped as - Category A (Institutions of National Importance, State Universities, Deemed-To-be-Universities, Private Universities and Autonomous institutions) and Category B (Institutions affiliated to a University).

Assessment Criteria: There are five parameters opted by the NAAC in order to rank the Indian higher education institutions and these set of parameters are -

Teaching, Learning & Resources

• Student Strength including doctoral students (SS)
• Faculty-student ratio with emphasis on permanent faculty (FSR)
• Combined metric for faculty with PhD and experience (FQE)
• Financial resources and their utilisation

Research and Professional Practice

• Combined metric for publications (PU)
• Combined metric for quality of publications (QP)
• IPR and Patents: Published and Granted
• The footprint of projects and professional practice

Graduation Outcomes

• Metric for University Examinations
• Metric for Number of PhD students who graduated

Outreach and Inclusivity

• Percentage of Students from other states/countries
• Percentage of women
• Economically and socially challenged students
• Facilities for physically challenged students
• Perception Ranking

Peer Perception

• Academic peers and employers

The grade conversion data mentioned below is indicative information.

• The students can refer to the following table to convert their grade (as per the grading system followed in their respective countries) in percentage as recommended for the Study in India programme.
• Students can consult their respective education boards for the exact Grade/GPA conversions.
• The formulae given in the reference conversion table are only approximate values and it may not derive the exact result.
• The submitted scores in percentages would be verified by the Indian Authorities and their decision in this regard would be binding for the student.
• The home country as mentioned in the following reference table is the country of the participating student.
• In case of any help is required, please contact us at toll-free helpline at +91120-6565065 or email at help[at]studyinindia[dot]gov[dot]in

The practise of Yoga originated thousands of years ago in India.

The Only Guide You Need

Must - have Mobile Apps for a Smooth Stay in India

If you own a smartphone and with a decent internet connection, exploring India will be a smooth and rewarding experience.

Your One - Stop Guide To Passport And Visa

If you are reading this blog, chances are you have got admission to one of the Indian institutes or are planning to pursue your higher education here.

Rules To Follow While Packing for India

You''ve got your course offer, visa, and tickets, you're all set for your study abroad journey. What’s next? Packing those bags!

Quality Education Meets Value-For-Money in India

India welcomes thousands of international students every year, who hope to pursue their passion to build careers, by gaining substantial knowledge in their preferred field of study.

Study in India is the flagship project of Ministry of Education, Government of India, launched in April 2018

• EDCIL (INDIA) LIMITED (A MINIRATNA CPSE UNDER MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, GOVT OF INDIA)
• +91 120-6565065
• FACEBOOK MESSENGER
• help[at]studyinindia[dot]gov[dot]in
• Reasons to Study in India
• Study in India Brochure

Important Links

• Eligibility Criteria
• Search Your Course & Institute
• Fee Waivers
• List of Partner Institutes
• Onboarding & FRRO
• Plan your Budget
• Local Support

Institution Login

New institute registration, alumni portal, #sayyestostudyinindia.

• PRIVACY POLICY CONTACT US SITE MAP

©Implemented by EdCIL (India) Limited

• Top Colleges
• Top Courses
• Entrance Exams
• Admission 2024
• Study Abroad
• Study in Canada
• Study in UK
• Study in USA
• Study in Australia
• Study in Germany
• IELTS Material
• Scholarships
• Sarkari Exam
• Visual Stories
• College Compare
• Write a review
• Login/ Register
• Login / Register

Education System in India: Everything You Need To Know

Manali Ganguly ,

Mar 4, 2024

Share it on:

The education system in India has evolved in the past few years to accommodate a more logical and practical approach towards education. The Indian education system can be roughly divided into the pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher secondary, graduate and the postgraduate levels.

The education system in India has evolved over the years and plays an important role in shaping not just the careers of the students but their lives as well. The education system in India is divided into several levels. They are the pre-primary level, the primary level, the secondary level, the higher secondary level, the graduate level and the postgraduate level.

In India, the education system can be said to be state-run. There are centralised boards as well as state boards to which the schools are affiliated. After the higher secondary level, education is imparted in colleges and universities, where the courses are bifurcated into academic, professional, and vocational courses.

An in-depth study of the complete system is crucial for a clearer understanding.

Table of Contents

Current Education System in India

• Literacy Rate in India

Right to Education Act (RTE)

Stages of education in india, central and state school education boards, education schemes in india, challenges faced by the education system in india.

The education system that is currently existing in India can be said to have come down since the Rig Vedic times. In the early period, Mathematics was the only subject through which education was imparted which implies a logical approach to learning. In the latter period, subjects that were included to be taught were Pali grammar, buddhist literature, social values and logic.

For the Hindu society, education was imparted in pathshalas or gurukuls where the students had to stay and serve the ‘guru’ or the teacher and learn their lessons there. Education was free in those times. In a Muslim society there were Madrasas and Maqtabs. The Madrasas exist till today.

When India became a British colony, initially the East India Company did not think of working on or improving the education system in India. It was later that the missionaries coming from Europe introduced Western education in the country. The Sergeant Commission and the Hunter Commission are the commissions that were set up by the British to improve the quality of education in India.

There was immense improvement in the Indian system of education in the postcolonial period. The modern education system in India can be segmented into four distinctive layers roughly. They are: primary,secondary, higher secondary and higher education.

Modern India made it mandatory to educate children in the age group of 6 years to 14 years. The higher education refers to the education after completing the higher secondary level. The graduate, post graduate, doctoral and postdoctoral levels constitute the higher education in the country.

Also Read:  Indian Education System vs Foreign Education System

New Education Policy

The New Education Policy has made several amendments in the education system in India. The moderations made in the system has been mentioned in the section below:

• The foundational stage of education runs for 5 years. The age group covered in this segment is 3 years to 8 years.
• The preparatory stage runs for 3 years. The age group covered in this stage is 8 years to 11 years, which ideally corresponds to classes 5 to 8.
• The middle stage of education is between the age group of 11 years to 14 years. The classes covered are 6 to 8.
• The secondary stage is between 14 years and 16 years which includes the classes 9 and 10.
• The higher secondary stage is between 16 years and 18 years which corresponds to the higher secondary classes of 11 and 12.

Also Read: What is Quality Education? Meaning and Importance

Literacy Rate in India

The education system in India is controlled and supervised by three central committees - University Grants Commission (UGC). National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). There exists a Ministry of Education in each state. There are more than 37000 colleges and 700 universities in India.

The literacy rate in India for seven year olds and above is 74.04%. The male literacy rate stands at 82.14% while the female literacy rate in India is 65.46%. The GER or General Enrolment Ratio for higher education in India stands at 26.30%. The GER is a metric that represents the percentage of people in the age group of 18 years to 23 years going for higher education.

Also Read: 10 Ways to Balance Student Life And Academics

The Right to Education Act was enacted on Aug 4, 2009, and came into force in Apr 2010. This is an Act of the Parliament of India to safeguard the rights of children to education free of cost. As per the act, the children are entitled to receive free and compulsory education from 6 years of age to 14 years of age.

The Right to Education Act makes it mandatory for the children to free fundamental education irrespective of caste, creed or gender. The Act lists down the norms that the schools must abide by while imparting elementary education to the children of the specified age group.

Also Read: Best Career Options for Girl in India

The education system in India is divided into the pre primary level, the primary or the elementary level, the secondary level, the higher secondary level, the graduate level, the postgraduate level, and the doctoral and postdoctoral levels. The description for each level can be found below.

Pre-Primary Level: This stage covers the education of children between 3 and 6 years of age. While terminology may differ for different regions and schools, this stage mostly starts from the playgroup and ends with upper kindergarten.

Primary Level: This is a relatively longer stage and covers classes 1 to 8 in school. Classes 1 to 5 constitute the primary level and classes 6 to 8 constitute the upper primary level.

Secondary Level: This stage is constituted by classes 9 and 10 in school.

Higher Secondary Level: This stage includes classes 11 and 12 in school.

Graduate Level: This stage includes 3 years of degree courses which are done in the college.

Postgraduate Level: The postgraduate stage can be done in the colleges or universities.

Doctoral and Postdoctoral Levels: The doctoral and postdoctoral levels require research and are done at the universities.

Also Read: Types of Education: Formal, Informal & Non-Formal    

There are a number of education boards in India apart from the state education boards. The central boards are CBSE, CISCE, and NIOS. Each of these boards has a separate set of curriculum for teaching as well as conducting exams.

The centrally operating education boards in India are the following:

• Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)
• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
• National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)

The state-run education boards in India can be found below:

• Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB)
• Punjab School Education Board (PSEB)
• Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE)
• Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE)
• Board of High School and Intermediate Education Uttar Pradesh
• Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education (CGBSE)
• Board of Secondary Education Rajasthan (RBSE)
• Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE)
• Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE)
• Andhra Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (BSEAP)
• Andhra Pradesh Board of Intermediate Education (BIEAP)
• West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE)
• Maharashtra State Board Of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE)
• Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSEB)

Also Read: CBSE vs State Boards: Which is Better?

The education system in India has witnessed the introduction of various kinds of educational schemes aiming at improving the quality of education among the targeted population. All such schemes that have been introduced and implemented to improvement the education system and therefore the literacy rate are mentioned below:

1. Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) : This act was passed in 2009 to make education compulsory for all children aged between 6 and 14 years.

2. Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC): This scheme was introduced to aid in the development and promotion of a conducive ecosystem in the higher educational institutes for conducting research by way of communication and exchange of ideas with the foreign nations.

3. National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT): This scheme aimed at improving the quality of education in the higher educational institutes.

4. Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA): This scheme was introduced in 2013 by the-then Ministry of Education. This scheme is sponsored by the Centre to facilitate strategic development in the higher educational institutes of the country.

5. NISHTHA 2.0: This scheme was introduced to train the teachers as per requirement to support logical and critical thinking in students.

6. Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) Yojana: This scheme has been introduced by the Government of India to facilitate better learning in 14,000 schools located country wide. The aim is to improve and uplift the education in these schools to bring them at par with the other centrally controlled and state controlled schools in the country.

7. Mid-Day Meal Scheme: This system was renamed the PM Poshan or Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman in September 2021. This scheme offers lunch to the children from classes 1 to 8 in the government-run schools.

8. PRAGYATA: This scheme issues an advisory in the form of guidelines, created by the NCERT, to the schools for digital education.

9. Samagra Shiksha: This scheme merges together the schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Teacher Education (TE), and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). This scheme covers the pre primary to the higher secondary level of education in the schools. The scheme fosters equal and all-inclusive education in the schools.

Also Read: Women Education in India: Importance, Welfare Schemes, and Benefits

Despite the all round development of the education system in India, there are a few challenges faced by the system. Corrective measures can help in dealing with the challenges and taking the education system of India to be at par with the top ranking systems in the world.

The challenges faced by the system are:

1. Lack of Infrastructure: The lack of infrastructure in most of the schools in the rural area leads to an insufficient development of the students in terms of learning.

2. Rote Learning Methods: This is one of the major drawbacks of the Indian education system. As compared to the top ranking countries, in terms of education, the education system in India lies behind because of the rote learning techniques. The ways of teaching in most of the schools are rather outdated, despite digital platforms being used in a few. Stressing on rote learning fails to instil interest in the students thereby leading to a half hearted knowledge.

3. Lack of Practical Application: Most of the lessons imparted in the school level lack any demonstration or practical application. This leads to an insufficient knowledge among the students which hinders their educational growth in the long run.

4. Expensive Education: The top private schools rank among the best schools in the country. However, the expenses are sky reaching which makes it not just difficult but impossible for most of the population to afford these schools.

5. Teacher to Student Ratio: This is a factor that is constantly hindering proper learning among the students. The class strengths are quite high which makes it difficult for the teachers to pay attention to individual students and address their needs.

Also Read: 5 Advantages And Disadvantages Of Online Education

POST YOUR COMMENT

Related articles.

List of Government Jobs after MBA 2024: Top Profiles, Salary Packages, Incentives

KCET College Wise Cutoff 2024: Determining Factors, Previous Years Cutoff

CUET BHU Cutoff 2024: Course-wise Expected Cutoff & Previous Year Trends

List of BSc Botany Colleges Accepting CUET Score 2024

How to Get Admission in Central Universities Through CUET?

CUET DU Cut off 2024: Check College Wise Delhi University Cut Off for UG Admissions

List of NIFT Colleges in India 2024: Admission, Courses, Placements

Get Free Scholarship worth 25000 INR

• International
• Today’s Paper
• Premium Stories
• ⏪ Election Rewind
• Express Shorts
• Health & Wellness
• Brand Solutions
• Also read in:

Latest All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE): What it says on female enrolment, takers for Arts and Science

All india survey of higher education (aishe) 2021–22 was made public on january 25. here are five key takeaways from the survey..

The report of the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2021–22, made public on January 25, found that 4.33 crore students are currently enrolled in a higher educational institute — up from 4.14 crore in 2020-21, and 3.42 crore in 2014-15.

The survey captures total student enrolment in eight different levels: undergraduate, postgraduate, PhD, MPhil, diploma, PG diploma, certificate, and integrated programmes. In all, 10,576 standalone institutions, 42,825 colleges, and 1,162 universities/university level institutions responded to the survey.

Here are five key takeaways.

Female enrolment greater than male

The number of women enrolled in higher educational institutes has steadily increased, the AISHE report showed.

From 1.5 crore women enrolled in 2014-15, there has been a jump of 32% to 2.07 crores enrolled in 2021-22. In the last five years, the number of women enrolled increased by 18.7%, from 1.74 crore in 2017–18.

The most astounding rise was seen at the PhD level. In 2021-22, the total PhD enrolment in the country is 2.12 lakh of which 98,636 are women. Eight years ago, only 47,717 women were enrolled in PhD programmes.

The proportion of women enrolled in higher education, compared to men, has also gone up. Of the  91 lakh more students to have joined higher educational institutes in 2021-22 (when compared to 2014-15), 55% were women. The proportion of women is highest at the post graduate level, where 55.4% students are female.

GER and Gender Parity

Gross Enrollment Ratio indicates how many students are part of the higher education system in a given population. The estimated GER for the age group 18-23 years in India is 28.4, the AISHE 2021-22 report said (based on population data from the 2011 census).

In terms of state-wise data, Chandigarh , at 64.8 % , boasts of the highest GER, followed by Puducherry at 61.5 % , Delhi at 49 % , and Tamil Nadu at 47 % .

Another indicator called the Gender Parity Index (GPI) shows the ratio of the female GER to male GER. A GPI of 1 indicates parity between the two genders; any number between 0 and 1 shows a disparity in favour of males, whereas a GPI greater than 1 indicates a disparity in favour of females.

The survey observed that in 26 states and Union Territories, the GER is in favour of women. At the all-India level, GPI is 1.01, and for SC and ST categories, the GPI is 1.01 and 0.98 respectively.

Arts over the sciences in graduation, PG

The survey showed that the Bachelor of Arts (BA) programme has the highest enrolment, with 1.13 crore students — 34.2% of total undergraduate enrolment across India. In all, 3.41 crore students are enrolled in UG programmes.

Among disciplines at undergraduate level, in 2021-22, the enrollment is highest in Arts (34.2%), followed by science (14.8%), commerce (13.3%) and engineering and technology (11.8%). BA(Hons) accounts for 20.4 lakh (6.2%), the survey shows.

Similarly, the social science stream has also the highest number of postgraduate students enrolled at 10.8 lakh. The latest survey shows that the Master of Arts (MA) programme has the highest enrolment, with 20.9 lakh students, which is 40.7% of total postgraduate enrolment

At PhD level, however, social sciences stood at third spot after engineering and science. While 52,748 are pursuing a PhD in engineering, and 45, 324 in science, 26,057 students are pursuing PhD in the social sciences.

Primacy of government institutions

Interestingly, 73.7% of all students attend government universities, which make up only 58.6% of all universities.

In the government sector, state public universities have the largest share of enrolment, accounting for around 31% of the total enrolment for universities. In actual numbers, government-owned universities have an enrolment of 71.06 lakh, whereas enrolment in privately managed universities is 25.32 lakh.

Even though there are more private universities, students prefer government educational institutions.

Demographics of students graduating

During the 2021–22 academic year, 1.07 crore students were estimated to have graduated from undergraduate, graduate, doctorate, master’s, and other diploma/certificate programmes. Among these 1.07 crore students, 54.6 lakh or roughly 50.8% are women.

Category-wise, in 2021-22, around 35% of the students belong to Other Backward Classes (OBC), 13% are from Scheduled Caste (SC) community and 5.7% of the graduates are from Scheduled Tribe (ST) community.

The graduation rate in arts and social sciences streams is higher than others. At the UG level, BA degree has been awarded to 24.16 lakh — the highest among all programmes. Even at PG level, the number of MA graduates are maximum with 7.02 lakh degrees awarded in 2021-22.

At PhD level, the highest graduates are in the science stream with 7,408 followed by engineering and technology at 6,270 graduating students.

• Express Explained
• higher education

Ahead of the big-ticket clash, the weather continues to improve in the city with light-moderate showers expected between 4-8 pm.

More Explained

Best of Express

EXPRESS OPINION

May 18: Latest News

• 01 Gunmen kill three foreign tourists in Afghanistan’s central Bamyan province
• 02 Sahara Group warns of legal action against makers after Scam 2010: The Subrata Roy Saga announcement: ‘An abusive act has been demonstrated….’
• 03 Bhinde says he was not director when hoarding put up; police says he was aware of illegality
• 04 The Great Indian Kapil Show drops mid-season trailer featuring Kartik Aaryan and Janhvi Kapoor; Ed Sheeran says Pushpa’s iconic line. Watch
• 05 EU bans distribution of four Russian news outlets
• Elections 2024
• Political Pulse
• Entertainment
• Movie Review
• Newsletters
• Web Stories

• Education Abroad
• MBA Study Abroad
• Online University
• Education Jobs
• Education Loans
• Education Fairs
• Online Education
• Distance Education
• Special Education
• Technical Education
• Vocational Education
• International Education

Graduate Education

• Medical Study
• Engineering Study
• Management Study
• Postgraduate Study
• Research Study
• Engineering Entrance
• Law Entrance
• MCA Entrance
• Medical Entrance
• MBA Entrance
• School Level Scholarship
• Under Graduate Scholarship
• Post Matric Scholarships
• International Scholarship
• IT and Computers
• Engineering
• Top Managememt Colleges
• Entrance Exam Dates
• MBA Admission Notification
• Online MBA in India
• IIMs in India
• State Wise Education
• Universities in India
• Statewise University
• Coaching Centers in India
• Top Educational Institutes

A Graduate Education course is the education course which offers a graduate or bachelor's degree in the desired subject. This level of an educational or professional degree, is regarded as being the main basic degree in any technical or non-technical stream. For further enrichment of a career in the selected educational or professional stream, the postgraduate or master's degree is required by the student. Hence, the graduate education programs are certainly the most prevalent and popular education courses in all countries of the world over. In addition to the traditional campus-based education, this graduate level education is now also obtainable through the means of distance learning, in a rather extensive range of professional fields or subjects. In this very informative and productive web-article, we are providing rich and exclusive coverage on the graduate education in india, which is provided separately in the lower paragraphs and section.

As the educational infrastructure and system of India is one of the largest, most well-developed, and fast prospering educational systems of the world, after that of USA and China, the graduate education courses of India are rather qualitative and internationally commended. Again, India has some of the best graduate schools for education in the whole world, which include IITs, JNU, AIIMS, NLSIU, IGNOU, and many central-funded and private universities and institutions. Moreover, this higher educational infrastructure of India has at present, about 500 universities, about 20,000 degree and postgraduate colleges and institutes, over 850 polytechnics, and a large number of professional training and vocational institutes and centers. As far as the distance education is concerned, there are about 200 full-fledged online institutions and open universities in cities all across India.

Top Level Education and Programs in India

The Government of India, through its regulatory boards and bodies concerned with higher education in the country, maintains the level of higher education in India at par with that in most of the well-developed and affluent countries of the world. Such governmental bodies are University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Medical Council of India (MCI), the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), the Distance Education Council (DEC), Bar Council of India (BCI), Indian Nursing Council (INC), the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), Dental Council of India (DCI), etc. Hence, along with a huge number of Indian students and scholars, a large number of foreign students and professionals, also avail the superlative higher education in India every year.

Today, for a main, prolific and professional graduate or bachelor's degree, the following disciplines or subjects are rather popular in India and countries worldwide, at present - subjects belonging to arts and humanities; sciences; diverse disciplines of law; engineering streams; medical sciences; accounts and commerce; social sciences; computer hardware and software; information technology; e-business and commerce; business administration; mass communication and journalism; internet and multimedia; languages; media and entertainment; nursing; culinary and hospitality; fine arts and design; fashion technology; library and information science; pharmaceutical; insurance; tourism and hospitality; and many other technical and non-technical educational streams and subjects.

For obtaining rich and very beneficial information about the most reputed and top universities and colleges, which offer graduate education courses in above-mentioned subjects, please visit other web-pages of ours highly reputed and popular educational website of India.

• IIT Chennai
• IIT Guwahati
• Top Ten Colleges
• College of Art
• College of Commerce
• College of Engineering
• College of Law
• College of Management
• IIM-Ahmedabad
• IIM-Bangalore
• IIM Calcutta
• IIM Lucknow
• Preschool Teaching
• Preschool Programs
• Private Preschool
• Indian Play School
• Preschool Abroad
• Career after 10+2
• Study Abroad
• Student Visa
• Personality Devel...
• Privacy Policy
• XML Sitemap

Ministry of Education releases All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-2021 Enrollment in higher education increases to 4.14 crore, crossing the 4 crore mark for first time; increase of 7.5% from 2019-20 and 21% from 2014-15 Female enrollment reaches 2 crore mark, increase of 13 Lakh from 2019-20 Significant increase of 28% in enrolment of SC students and 38% in enrolment of Female SC Students in 2020-21, compared to 2014-15. Substantial increase of 47% in enrolment of ST students and 63.4% increase in the enrolment of Female ST Students in 2020-21, compared to 2014-15. Significant increase of 32% in OBC Student enrolment and 39% in Female OBC Students, since 2014-15. Notable increase of 29% in Student Enrolment and 34% in Female Student Enrolment in the North Eastern Region in 2020-21 since 2014-15. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) has improved from previous year for all social groups Enrollment in Distance Education has increased by 7% in 2020-21 from 2019-20 Number of Universities has increased by 70, number of Colleges has increased by 1,453, in 2020-21 over 2019-20 Gender Parity Index (GPI) has increased from 1 in 2017-18 to 1.05 in 2020-21 Total number of faculty/teachers increases by 47,914 from 2019-20

The Ministry of Education, Government of India has released All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-2021. The Ministry has been conducting All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) since 2011, covering all higher educational institutions located in Indian Territory and imparting higher education in the country. The survey collects detailed information on different parameters such as student enrollment, teacher’s data, infrastructural information, financial information etc. For the first time, in AISHE 2020-21, HEIs have filled data using entirely online data collection platform through the Web Data Capture Format (DCF) developed by Department of Higher Education through the National Informatics Centre (NIC).  

Following are the key highlights of the survey:

Student Enrollment

• 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 enrolment (21%). 
• The Female enrolment has increased to 2.01 crore from 1.88 crore in 2019-20.  There has been an increase of around 44 Lakh (28%) since 2014-15.
• The percentage of female enrolment to total enrolment has increased from 45% in 2014-15 to around 49% in 2020-21.
• As per 2011 population projections for 18-23 years age group, GER has increased to 27.3 from 25.6 in 2019-20.
• Notable increase of 1.9 points is observed in GER of ST students in 2020-21, as compared to 2019-20.
• Female GER has overtaken Male GER since 2017-18. Gender Parity Index (GPI), the ratio of female GER to male GER, has increased from 1 in 2017-18 to 1.05 in 2020-21.
• The enrolment of SC students is 58.95 Lakh as compared to 56.57 Lakh in 2019-20 and 46.06 Lakh in 2014-15.
• The enrolment of ST students has increased to 24.1 Lakh in 2020-21 from 21.6 Lakh in 2019-20 and 16.41 Lakh in 2014-15.
• The average annual enrolment of ST students has increased to around 1 Lakh during the period 2014- 15 to 2020-21, from around 75,000 during the period 2007-08 to 2014-15.
• Enrolment of OBC students has also increased by 6 Lakh to 1.48 crore in 2020-21, from 1.42 crore in 2019-20. There is a notable increase in OBC student enrolment since 2014-15 of around 36 Lakh (32%).
• The total Student Enrolment in North East States is 12.06 Lakh in 2020-21 as compared to 9.36 Lakh in 2014-15.
• The female enrolment in North East States is 6.14 lakh in 2020-21, higher than the male enrolment of 5.92 lakh [For every 100 male students, there are 104 female students in NER].   The female enrolment outnumbered male enrolment for first time in 2018-19, and the trend continues.
• The enrolment in Distance Education is 45.71 Lakh (with 20.9 Lakh Female), an increase of around 7% since 2019-20 and 20% since 2014-15.
• Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan are the top 6 States in terms of number of student enrolled.
• As per response in AISHE 2020-21, about 79.06% of the total students are enrolled in undergraduate level courses and 11.5% are enrolled in postgraduate level courses.
• Among Disciplines at undergraduate level, enrollment is highest in Arts (33.5%), followed by Science (15.5%), Commerce (13.9%) and Engineering & Technology (11.9%).
• Among streams at postgraduate level, maximum students are enrolled in Social Science (20.56%) followed by science (14.83%).
• Of the total enrolment, 55.5 Lakh students are enrolled in Science Stream, with female students (29.5 Lakh) out numbering male students (26 Lakh).
• Government Universities (59% of total) contribute towards 73.1% of the enrolment. Government Colleges (21.4% of total) contribute towards 34.5% of the enrolment.
• The enrolment in Institute of National Importance (INIs) has increased by nearly 61% during the period 2014-15 to 2020-21.
• Enrolment has increased in 2020-21 compared to 2014-15 in the Specialized 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.
• Libraries (97%)
• Laboratories (88)
• Computer centres (91%, 86% in 2019-20)
• Skill Development Centre (61%, 58% in 2019-20)
• Connectivity to National Knowledge Network (56%, from 34% in 2019-20)

Number of Institutions

• The total number of Universities / University like institutions registered is 1,113, Colleges 43,796 and Standalone Institutions 11,296.
• During 2020-21, the number of Universities has increased by 70, and the number of Colleges has increased by 1,453.
• Since 2014-15, there has been increase of 353 Universities (46.4%).
• The Institutes of National Importance (INIs) have almost doubled from 75 in 2014-15 to 149 in 2020-21.
• 191 new Higher Education Institutions have been established in North Eastern States since 2014-15.
• Highest number of Universities is in Rajasthan (92), Uttar Pradesh (84) and Gujarat (83).
• During 2014-15 to 2020-21, on average, 59 Universities have been added annually. This was about 50 during 2007-08 to 2014-15.
• 17 Universities (of which 14 are State Public) and 4,375 Colleges are exclusively for women.
• The College Density, the number of colleges per lakh eligible population (population in the age-group 18-23 years) has been 31. This was 27 in 2014-15.
• States with Highest college density: Karnataka (62), Telangana (53), Kerala (50), Himachal Pradesh (50), Andhra Pradesh (49),Uttarakhand (40), Rajasthan (40), Tamilnadu (40).
• Top 8 Districts with Highest number of Colleges: Bangalore Urban (1058), Jaipur (671), Hyderabad (488), Pune (466), Prayagraj (374), Rangareddy (345), Bhopal (327) and Nagpur (318).
• Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,Gujarat are top 8 States in terms of number of colleges.
• 43% universities and 61.4% colleges are located in Rural Areas.  
• The total number of faculty/teachers are 15,51,070 of which about 57.1% are male and 42.9% are female. 
• The female per 100 male faculty has improved to 75 in 2020-21 from 74 in 2019-20 and 63 in 2014-15.

• Latest Issue
• Practice Area Columns
• Comprehensive Internationalization
• Education Abroad
• International Enrollment Management
• International Students and Scholars

India’s Higher Education Landscape

Though India’s role in the international education landscape has historically been as a top sending country, its star is rising as a destination for international students. Toward that end, India’s overlapping goals of expanding access to higher education among all students in the country, keeping talented Indian students at Indian institutions, and attracting students from abroad all begin with prioritizing its higher education system.

In the last 2 years, the pandemic has compounded existing challenges in India, including those related to capacity, equity, access to resources, quality, and bureaucratic obstacles. But reform efforts to address these issues and others are taking root as India’s tertiary sector experiences a period of tremendous expansion.

One hope for meaningful reform is the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), approved by India’s central government in July 2020. But it’s too early to tell if the implementation of the NEP will succeed in moving the sector forward.

To appreciate the country’s growing role in international education, it’s important to understand the scope of India’s higher education system, as well as its various models, strengths and weaknesses, and largest obstacles.

An Overview: Large but Challenged

India’s higher education landscape is a mix of progress and challenges. Its scope is vast: 1,043 universities, 42,343 colleges, and 11,779 stand-alone institutions make it one of the largest higher education sectors in the world, according to the latest (2019–20) All India Survey of Higher Education Report (AISHE 2019–20).

The number of institutions has expanded by more than 400 percent since 2001, with much of the growth taking place in the private education sector, according to a major 2019 report from the Brookings Institution, Reviving Higher Education in India . This growth continued through 2019–20, according to the 2019–20 AISHE report.

Capacity is growing rapidly to serve India’s large youth population and burgeoning college-aged cohort. One metric of note is gross enrollment ratio (GER), which measures total enrollment in education as a percentage of the eligible school-aged population. India’s GER of 27.1 percent in 2019–20 seems poised to fall below the Ministry of Education’s target of achieving 32 percent by 2022. It is also significantly behind China’s 51 percent and much of Europe and North America, where 80 percent or more of young people enroll in higher education, according to Philip Altbach, a research professor at Boston College and founding director of the Center for International Higher Education.

The number of institutions has expanded by more than 400 percent since 2001. ...Capacity is growing rapidly to serve India’s large youth population and burgeoning college-aged cohort.

India has produced many noteworthy higher education institutions, including those specializing in sciences and business, though none of them take the top spots in global rankings. Its highest-ranked institution, the Indian Institute of Science, was in the 301–350 range among institutions worldwide in 2022, according to the Times Higher Education 2022 World University Rankings . China, by contrast, has 16 institutions in the top 350, including six ranked in the top 100 and two in the top 20. However, much is different about India—its central government is less efficient and empowered, there’s enormous variation between India’s 36 states and territories, there’s less affluence, and the country has a democratic political system.

Across India, there is an enormous variation in quality institutions between states. For instance, according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework of India 2021 , the best colleges in the country are concentrated in 9 of India’s 28 states: Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal. The colleges in these states are all in the ranking’s top 100 institutions, notes Eldho Mathews, deputy advisor at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration. In states with fewer resources, offering quality education is more of a challenge.

Other difficulties that hobble the sector include lack of sufficient funding at both the national and state levels; inefficient structure; massive bureaucracy; and corruption. An additional, formidable hurdle is to bridge the gap between graduates and jobs, as many employers have doubts about the quality of Indian graduates’ skills. In a recent survey by Wheelbox, Taggd, and the Confederation of Indian Industry, respondents rated graduates of higher education institutions below a 50 percent employability level, according to the resulting Indian Skills Report .

The NEP: Introducing New Reforms

To address the challenges and steer the overall Indian tertiary sector, the Indian government released the NEP 2020 and the Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP), a five-year education plan announced in 2019. In addition to its teacher-education initiatives and the introduction of 4-year degrees and more flexible pathways, the NEP’s major reform components include the following:

• Raising the percentage of young people enrolled in postsecondary education significantly—up to 50 percent from the current 26.3 percent. The draft national policy aims to increase the gross enrollment ratio (GER) to at least 50 percent by 2035, while EQUIP has a goal of doubling the GER to 52 percent by 2024.
• Increasing expenditures on all levels of public education from 10 percent of all government spending to 20 percent over a 10-year period.
• Imposing a differentiated system of research universities, teaching universities, and colleges that seeks to do away with the affiliation model, merge institutions to create larger multidisciplinary education and research institutions, and give greater autonomy to the best universities.
• Establishing a Global Initiative of Academic Networks to engage with the international talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs to augment the country’s existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India’s scientific and technological capacity to a standard of global excellence.
• Establishing a Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration that taps foreign academics to improve the competitiveness of the Indian system.
• Continuing and expanding the existing Institutions of Eminence (IoE) program, which focused on creating world-class teaching and research institutions. Ten public and 10 private institutions are to be identified as world-class, with the goal that these institutions are eventually ranked among the top 100 in the world over time. The IoE designation is intended to allow these institutions greater freedom to determine fee and course structures and the discretion to establish their governing bodies.
• Continuing the Leadership for Academicians Programme, launched in 2019, which provides training for those in academic and administrative leadership positions in partnership with selected foreign universities.
• Restructuring and consolidating the system so that institutions have a minimum 3,000-student enrollment.

Several Indian states have still not implemented the NEP 2020, in some cases because of disputes over language issues and allegations that state powers are neglected in the plan. While some states are close to achieving target GERs, others lag far behind, according to Changing Higher Education in India , a 2022 higher education treatise that includes an analysis of implementation of NEP 2020 reforms.

Some say that more funding is a core need, and there is no indication that expenditures of that magnitude will occur. India’s Economic Survey 2021–22 reported that spending on education as a percentage of GDP grew slightly—an estimated .3 percent—since 2014–15, but all sources interviewed were skeptical that a substantial increase in the tertiary education sector spending will occur.

“It is not enough to announce these things; [they] take money and follow-through, and there are a lot of powerful negative forces that continue to the present,” says Altbach. “There are good proposals coming forth from the government and semigovernment private commissions that roughly say the same thing and sound more serious than the past, but the jury is out.”

“Emphasis on quality entails limitations on quantity and…inclusiveness. Diversity of gender, ethnicity, country, and region all contribute to excellence. Values are paramount.” —Ramaswamy Sudarshan

Lakhotia is also skeptical: “NEP 2020 has now been formally in place for nearly 2 years, but its implementation is visible only in fragments,” he says.

The rush to increase capacity with limited resources is highlighting trade-offs and forcing hard choices, says Ramaswamy Sudarshan, dean of the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy at the private O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) in Haryana. “Not all good things go together,” he says. “Emphasis on quality entails limitations on quantity and…inclusiveness. Diversity of gender, ethnicity, country, and region all contribute to excellence. Values are paramount.”

Others express more positive reactions to the prospects of the NEP 2020. Raghu Radhakrishnan, director of international relations at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), praises the NEP 2020.

“The new NEP is on the anvil to meet the changing dynamics of the population’s requirement with regards to quality education, innovation, and research, aiming to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge and to eliminate the shortage of manpower in science, technology, academics, and industry,” Radhakrishnan says.

Working It Out: Public and Private Universities

With the government’s focus on primary and secondary education in the past several decades, higher education in India as “a huge unmet need,” says Sudarshan. This has left private institutions to fill the tertiary education space.

“The rate of expansion of public universities in the country is poor relative to the emphasis given to primary and secondary education,” he says. “Instead, [the government] encouraged the private sector to produce [university expansion]. The number of private universities presently exceeds that of publicly funded ones, and the gap between the two will continue to increase.”

Indeed, unlike the United States and China, India has tended to promote the creation of a larger number of these smaller institutions. The Brookings Reviving Higher Education report notes that Indian institutions, on average, have about 690 students, whereas China averages 16,000 students per institution, allowing the country to scale up more rapidly.

A total of 78.6 percent of India’s colleges are private, accounting for about a third of total college enrollment, according to the AISHE 2019–20 report. However, while most of the enrollment capacity growth in Indian higher education has happened through the expansion of these private institutions, quality is uneven. The All India Council for Technical Education has imposed a moratorium on approval of new engineering colleges given attendance shortfalls in the country, notes the Times of India . This ties into another item on the NEP’s to-do list: Ensure a minimum enrollment of 3,000 students and phase out small colleges with lower enrollments.

“I think we need a mix of [large and small institutions] to effectively cater to the differing needs of learning desires and logistics of the rural and urban populations on one hand and the significantly varying local needs on the other.” —S. C. Lakhotia

Some smaller, private, upstart universities, however, have better resources and have broken free from the model, making dramatic progress in providing a small number of students more resource-rich educations—but these institutions remain a small part of the picture.

S. C. Lakhotia, a distinguished professor at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) questions whether having larger institutions would necessarily improve the situation. “I am not sure if fewer but larger institutions would be an answer to the mammoth task of providing reasonable quality of higher education to the huge population,” he says “With all cities in the country already bursting at their seams, having larger institutions would aggravate the conditions due to further migration to such centers. I think we need a mix of both to effectively cater to the differing needs of learning desires and logistics of the rural and urban populations on one hand and the significantly varying local needs on the other.”

Structural Difficulties

The structure of India’s higher education system creates its own challenges that the NEP aims to address. At the hub of the system are the public universities. Most of them have affiliations with numerous smaller, often private, colleges—generally of lesser prestige and quality.

“Of 40,000 colleges, most are dependent on a mother university for their frameworks and other things, even though many Indian colleges are older than the universities to which they are affiliated,” says Mathews. “That is a big hurdle.”

“The public universities are overstretched,” says William Brustein, interim director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Global Studies Center and formerly the vice provost for global strategies and international affairs at The Ohio State University (OSU) from 2009 to 2016, where he established U.S.-India mobility programs. “Their faculty are not paid well, and they have to hold two or three jobs. They can’t devote time to research, and they lack the technology in their classrooms that you would find in China.”

One example of an overstretched public institution is BHU, located in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The university, recognized as an Institution of Eminence in 2020, started in 1916 with strong national backing, an ambitious vision, and deep resources. Its 1,300-acre campus is home to a residential university, as well as to three other affiliate colleges: a women’s college, the Institute of Medical Sciences, and the Institute of Technology, which was recently separated as an independent institution. But BHU has faced challenges in recent years. 

“The diversity of subjects, the huge campus, and the large number of students and faculty have indeed presented a variety of administrative and academic challenges,” says Lakhotia.

The NEP’s goal in addressing these difficulties is to move away from the affiliation model and create a new system of research universities, teaching universities, and colleges. Merging institutions will create larger multidisciplinary education and research institutions and give greater autonomy to the best universities.

Bridging the Funding Gap

One of the NEP’s major objectives is to double the amount spent on public education, which should ameliorate a major challenge that plagues higher education in India: inadequate funding for both central- and state-funded public universities. Central universities receive funding from the national government, through the University Grants Commission (UGC), while state universities are funded by state governments, in addition to some grants from the UGC.

“Although there is a general perception that central universities are better funded than state universities, the facts, at least for BHU, are different,” says Lakhotia. “Some of the central universities … have better funding than the earlier established central universities like BHU. The more recently established central universities perhaps also have better budgets. Many of the state universities are in worse conditions with respect to the funds provided by the given state governments.”

“More recently, there has been a shift to understanding that you cannot just focus on the early part of the pathway and neglect youths coming into and out of higher education.” —Rajika Bhandari

And much funding has been concentrated on the primary and secondary levels. “For many years, there was heavy focus on primary and secondary education,” says Rajika Bhandari, author and former president and CEO of the IC3 Institute, which promotes career and college counseling at schools around the world in partnership with universities, and with a large presence in India. “More recently, there has been a shift to understanding that you cannot just focus on the early part of the pathway and neglect youths coming into and out of higher education.”

The NEP specifies that “revamping colleges and universities to foster excellence” is a priority for the government’s financial investment.

The Deadening Effect of Bureaucracy

Excessive bureaucracy rivals insufficient funding as a root cause of the challenges of the Indian higher education sector. Many colleges function under the supervision of a university or a government body, reducing their autonomy. In many cases, the university or government body is unable to regulate them effectively, the Brookings Institution report notes. States are also the leading funders of many institutions, removing the ability of the central government to use funding as a lever to improve the systems.

That bureaucracy has a deadening effect on the ability of Indian higher education institutions to experiment and evolve, says Pankaj Chandra, vice chancellor of Ahmedabad University, one of India’s upstart private institutions.

“Indian higher education suffers from lack of experimentation and hence an inability to react to the changing environment—and it is true of some of India’s better institutions, such as its Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)as well,” Chandra says. “Having studied at an IIT and taught for two decades at two of the IIMs and led one of the premier IIMs as its director, I feel that they could be many times better if the government just stopped controlling them or dictating to them as to what should they do. They need to be left alone to chart their own destinies.”

Similarly, India’s regulatory framework and bureaucratic mindset “have been and remain obstacles,” in the progress of JGU, notes Sudarshan. These obstacles include passing legislation to create the university, obtaining permissions and approval for developing the land, and seeking recognition for JGU’s law school.

“There is a great tradition of individual inquiry and learning in India and its institutions; we just need to make them collectively able to deliver new ideas and scientific knowledge for the society.” —Pankaj Chandra

Streamlining systems and reducing inefficiencies are key aspects to India becoming a bigger player as a destination country in international education, though the NEP does not address these particular pain points. It does, however, outline implementation plans that include better coordination between central and state governing bodies, leveraging existing strengths of India’s academic tradition.

“There is a great tradition of individual inquiry and learning in India and its institutions; we just need to make them collectively able to deliver new ideas and scientific knowledge for the society,” Chandra says. “Given the fundamental ways in which the world is changing, here is an entry point for institutions that think differently to become leaders globally.”

Changing Mindsets

In addition to bureaucracy, long-held attitudes about higher education—and who should have access to it—prevent progress that could benefit potential students.

Brustein says he also encountered an elitist aspect to the central governmental mindset toward Indian institutional capacity development. He recalls attending Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) conferences in New Delhi, where government officials expressed their desire to create the equivalent of Ivy Leave institutions in India.  

“I think India would do much better with a land-grant model and, also, community colleges,” says Brustein. “That is where India could really make a difference in its higher education. But there has been no effort to do that.”   

Lakhotia agrees that more technical and vocational training might be better fits for the needs of many young Indians. “While there may be larger institutions which cater more to those primarily interested in academic careers, there have to be many smaller institutions across the country that provide basic education and vocational trainings beyond secondary schools,” he says.

The NEP outlines robust plans to reimagine how vocational training is offered in higher education, especially given the prevailing social attitudes that view vocational training as inferior. One major goal is, by 2025, to have 50 percent of Indian students exposed to some type of vocational education; currently, it’s less than 5 percent.

“The present trend that everyone should have an undergraduate degree to get a job has resulted in the unmanageable migrations from rural to urban areas on one hand, and a worrying lack of skilled manpower for agriculture and various services [on the other],” Lakhotia says.

Accreditation, Equity, and Teacher Development

The NEP focuses a large part in its higher education plans on accreditation, which is also seen as incomplete and insufficient to ensure institutional quality. Mandatory accreditation under the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is limited to institutions seeking funding, while another accreditation body, the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), is limited to technical programs like engineering and management. NBA accredits individual courses rather than institutions, resulting in a small proportion of institutions with NAAC accreditation, notes the Brookings Institution report. In 2018, the UGC proposed that more accreditation agencies be created.

Equity is another deeply rooted obstacle for India’s higher education sector. To increase diversity in admissions, there is an affirmative action policy (called “ reservation ”) that allots a certain percentage of seats to historically disadvantaged groups, including women; people from disadvantaged castes, tribes, and religious minorities; and those from economically disadvantaged segments of society.

Challenges remain for many of these students once admitted. Ministry of Human Resource Development data published in 2019 reveals that out of 2,461 students who dropped out from IITs over a 2-year period, nearly half were from reservation groups. Of the 99 students who dropped out of IIMs, most were from reservation classes, writes Rudrashis Datta, an assistant professor in English at Pritilata Waddedar Mahavidyalaya in West Bengal, in an opinion article in The Statesman . A similar pattern of high dropout rates for reservation class populations from seven top IITs was reported for a 5-year period by the Education Ministry in 2021, according to The Hindu .

To remedy these problems, the NEP outlines eight specific steps for governing bodies and 14 steps for institutions to take in order to ensure better equity, access, and student success—from financial assistance and inclusive curriculum to wheelchair-accessible buildings and counseling and mentorship programs.

An area where the NEP’s efforts are bearing fruit is in boosting teacher qualifications. Under the NEP 2020, the central government requires a 4-year integrated bachelor’s of education as the minimum required degree for teaching by 2030. In 2021, the government announced a program of instruction for that degree in 50 institutions across the country. The program will start in the 2022–23 academic year and will allow graduates to get a degree in education as well as in a specialized subject, such as history, mathematics, arts, economics, or commerce.

“Having the right environment that encourages research, independence, academic freedom, and stimulating students are incentives [for faculty].” —Ramaswamy Sudarshan

In March, the UGC began considering modifications to its regulations to allow the appointment of professionals and industry experts as professors in central government universities as part of the implementation of the NEP 2020.

Better funding and institutional mandates that emphasize more research have allowed some universities to recruit and retain top talent. “We have managed to attract about 20 new faculty every year to the university during the last 4 years,” Chandra says. “The largest majority amongst them are Indians who have completed their PhDs at some of the best places like MIT, Stanford, Chicago, Penn, and Cambridge. The rest are PhDs from some of the best institutions in India.”

Similarly, says Sudarshan, “JGU has benefited from brain gain, with its top scholars returning to work with us, even though they will take a pay cut. I did when I left the [United Nations Development Programme] and joined JGU. Having the right environment that encourages research, independence, academic freedom, and stimulating students are incentives.”

Introducing New Approaches

In India, 3-year arts, commerce, and sciences degrees remain the most common. And traditional pedagogy, such as rote learning, still hold sway. Mousumi Mukherjee, a professor at JGU and deputy director of the International Institute for Higher Education Research & Capacity Building, says the teaching reality of many professors in India at colleges affiliated with public universities still resembles her own early career experience as a lecturer at a college affiliated with the University of Calcutta.

With a syllabus designed by an administrative body far from her campus, she and other teachers were expected to deliver the curriculum as planned with no autonomy in the classroom—“whether the students were actually able to understand it or not,” she says. “I later studied abroad under a Fulbright teaching fellowship, and I had to unlearn everything I had learned about teaching from that period in my career.”

However, the NEP 2020 has introduced 4-year undergraduate degrees with multiple entry and exit points. The policy also seeks to increase flexible pathways to higher education learning, including increased credit transfers between different institutions and types of programs. Other new initiatives from the NEP in this area include an academic credit bank to allow students to move between different universities and gain credits from work that count toward a final degree. 

In addition, a draft Curricular Framework and Credit System for Four-year Undergraduate Programme , introduced by the UGC, calls for multidisciplinary and holistic education to emphasize conceptual understanding, creativity, and critical thinking. Stakeholders hope the greater flexibility will improve GER ratios, reduce dropouts, and increase degree completion. However, a liberal arts approach and the flexible thinking behind it are relatively new developments to the Indian ecosystem, says Chandra.

“India needs its own experiments and it needs to build liberal arts–driven education that is located in its context and is still global in its value and aspirations of meritocracy. Ahmedabad is an experiment in that direction.” —Pankaj Chandra

“Most parents are not convinced that such an education is superior to rote learning, as the latter gets them into established public institutions like IITs and IIMs,” he says. “Most employers also value single parameter achievement that is designed around marks in standardized exams. It is going to take some time before these employers break their mindset and start to hire graduates in large numbers. Some of the more enlightened ones are already coming to our campuses.”

Ahmedabad University has successfully implemented such an approach. “Many schools are simply trying to replicate the ethos, culture, and structure of programs in the United States or Europe,” Chandra says. “They are also attracting students from a certain section of the society because of their high fees. India needs its own experiments and it needs to build liberal arts–driven education that is located in its context and is still global in its value and aspirations of meritocracy. Ahmedabad is an experiment in that direction.”

The Strength of Specialized Institutions

While schools such as Ahmedabad are beginning to address the need for liberal arts-based education, the establishment of state-sponsored, science- and business-related institutions is a time-tested achievement. Resources are concentrated on these science- and business-related institutions, which recruit top Indian students. The country’s 23 Indian Institutes of Technology, its autonomous public technical and research universities, and its 20 Indian Institutes of Management are centrally funded and enjoy greater autonomy than most institutions, though they educate a relatively small number of students.

“The IITs are a bright point in the system, in part by leaning heavily on admissions testing to yield the brightest students from an enormous number of applicants,” says Altbach. “They are world class and mainly undergraduate. The Indian Schools of Management are the same thing, funded by the federal government.”

Such institutions are among the most selective in the world. “If these students were to come to the United States, they would attend Harvard or MIT,” says Brustein.

“The IITs are a bright point in the system, in part by leaning heavily on admissions testing to yield the brightest students from an enormous number of applicants. They are world class and mainly undergraduate.” —Philip Altbach

There are also noteworthy public institutions outside the IITs and IISc, which are established brands. “These institutions as whole entities are not as comparable to world leaders abroad, but many have excellent departments that do excellent research,” says Mathews. The Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research in Pune and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) under the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research are central institutions doing very good basic science and research, Mathews notes.

The state university system includes several standout institutions, such as Calcutta University, Jadvapur University, and Pune University. “Their funding is much lower than the IITs, yet some of their departments conduct excellent research, which is amazing,” Mathews says. “These institutions often don’t get mentioned outside of the country.”

In fact, almost all prominent states that have a major teaching university also have research and training institutions—including some in advanced fields, such as the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in Kerala, which is supported by the central government in strategically important areas, notes Mathews. In August 2021, the Indian Cabinet approved a noteworthy memorandum of understanding between IIST and the Delft University of Technology, for carrying out the academic programs and research activities involving students and faculty members in each institution.

A Game Changer: Distance Education

Distance education, one solution to some of India’s capacity challenges, continues to evolve—and may be one of the brightest spots in the country’s higher education sector, now that the government allows higher-ranked institutions to offer online degree programs. And as institutions around the world saw with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote learning is here to stay.

In India, distance learning accounts for “around 10 percent of the total enrollment in higher education, and [it’s] dominated by the public sector,” Mathews notes. “There are, however, some new forms of distance education that are disrupting the sector, most through private-public partnerships, institutions, and mass open online courses (MOOCs),” Mathews says.

Established in 1973, the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB), is one of the top management schools in India in the public sector and has a standout MOOC program, the IIMBx program. To date, IIMBx has had over 750,000 students from more than 190 countries, says P. D. Jose, an IIMB professor.

Another online program, the National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), is a project run by the IITs and the Indian Institute of Science. Since 2003, it has offered more than 2,300 courses for students online, and, since 2014, it has allowed participating students to receive certifications from those institutions that include transferrable credits. The program, which offers courses in STEM, management, and the humanities also features proctored exams. NPTEL partners with other colleges within and outside India to extend the reach of the program.

The fact that NPTEL certificates come with IIT and IISc recognition has helped their acceptance among employers, says IIT Madras’s Andrew Thangaraj, who helps run the program.

“One of the things that’s unique or very interesting in India is online higher education is actually integrated quite strongly with on-campus education,” says Thangaraj. “Pretty much every college will know about Swayam (the national MOOC portal) and NPTEL training. [Institutions] are looking for competent teaching in every subject that have actually been offered there, and they get that through these kinds of online programs.”

“It is an experiment, and we are learning every day to perfect our online education methods. If we can do quality and scale, other institutions will follow suit and we will change the game for higher education in India.” —Andrew Thangaraj

In 2021, Thangaraj says IIT Madras took the online next step and began offering a full bachelor’s program online, a 3-year degree in programming and data science, which Thangaraj says is one of, if not the , only large-scale, full-degree online programs in India. It currently has more than 12,000 students participating. The program features live interaction with instructors for 8 to 10 hours per week per course. Students must come in monthly to one of 100 exam centers throughout India or the several foreign exam centers to be tested.

“It is an experiment, and we are learning every day to perfect our online education methods,” Thangaraj says. “If we can do quality and scale, other institutions will follow suit and we will change the game for higher education in India.” 

A challenge that hinders distance and online education in India is that many colleges do not have good internet connectivity, particularly in rural areas, says Mathews. Thangaraj notes that many smaller, local colleges allow students to access online courses through labs in their facilities, which can solve the problem of access for those with no connectivity. In some cases, students watch videos of the classes rather than enjoying real-time access.

But ultimately, Thangaraj sees online education as the gamechanger that will make the NEP 2020’s goals achievable. “Only 8 million students get admission into college each year,” notes Thangaraj. “Yet India has amazingly aggressive goals of admitting 20 or 25 million students each year by 2030. I don’t see any way of getting there other than online education playing a huge role.”

A Bright Future

If India can meet the ambitious goals outlined in the NEP and related plans, there is promise that it can successfully tap the remaining pockets of unrealized potential across the country. By building on the strengths of its higher education system and acknowledging the areas in need of reform, India can not only better meet its own students’ needs, but also attract talent from the region and the world.

About International Educator

International Educator  is NAFSA’s flagship publication and has been published continually since 1990. As a record of the association and the field of international education,  IE  includes articles on a variety of topics, trends, and issues facing NAFSA members and their work. 

From in-depth features to interviews with thought leaders and columns tailored to NAFSA’s knowledge communities,  IE  provides must-read context and analysis to those working around the globe to advance international education and exchange.

About NAFSA

NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange. NAFSA serves the needs of more than 10,000 members and international educators worldwide at more than 3,500 institutions, in over 150 countries.

NAFSA membership provides you with unmatched access to best-in-class programs, critical updates, and resources to professionalize your practice. Members gain unrivaled opportunities to partner with experienced international education leaders.

• Society ›

Education & Science

Education in India - statistics & facts

Pre-school and k-12 education, the study-abroad dream, national education policy: the way ahead, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Market size of education industry India FY 2020-2025

Rate of literate population in India 2022 by gender

Number of school students in India FY 2022, by education level

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Rate of unemployment in India 2022, by education level

Number of higher education institutions in India 2021, by type

Education Level & Skills

Employability among graduates in India 2014-2023 by gender

Further recommended statistics

Education market.

• Premium Statistic Market size of education industry India FY 2020-2025
• Premium Statistic School market size in India 2022-2028
• Premium Statistic School market distribution in India 2023, by education level
• Premium Statistic Preschool and childcare market size India 2022-2028
• Premium Statistic Size of the higher education market in India 2022-2028
• Premium Statistic Indian EdTech market size 2020-2025

Market size of education industry across India in financial year 2020, with an estimate for 2025 (in billion U.S. dollars)

School market size in India 2022-2028

Size of the school market in India from 2022, with forecasts until 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

School market distribution in India 2023, by education level

Distribution of school market in India in 2023, by education level

Preschool and childcare market size India 2022-2028

Market size of preschool and childcare in India from 2022, with forecasts until 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Size of the higher education market in India 2022-2028

Size of higher education market in India in 2022, with forecasts until 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Indian EdTech market size 2020-2025

Value of EdTech market across India in 2020, with an estimate for 2025 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Key Indicators

• Premium Statistic India's performance in quality education SDG 2023, by indicator
• Premium Statistic Rate of literate population in India 2022 by gender
• Premium Statistic Ratio of pupil to teacher in India 2022, by education level
• Premium Statistic Multidimensionally poor and deprived population in education in India 2006-2021
• Premium Statistic CPI of education India 2022-2023

India's performance in quality education SDG 2023, by indicator

India's performance in quality education as per sustainable development goals (SDG) as of 2023, by indicator

Literacy rate among population over 15 years of age in India in 2022, by gender

Ratio of pupil to teacher in India 2022, by education level

Pupil to teacher ratio across India in FY 2022, by education level

Multidimensionally poor and deprived population in education in India 2006-2021

Share of multidimensionally poor and deprived population in the years of schooling indicator in India between 2006 and 2021

CPI of education India 2022-2023

Consumer Price Index (CPI) of education across urban and rural India from March 2022 to March 2023

Expenditure on education

• Premium Statistic Education consumer spending per capita worldwide 2020, by country
• Premium Statistic Budget allocation for education sector in India FY 2018-2023
• Premium Statistic Budget expenditure on teachers training and adult education in India FY 2022-2023
• Premium Statistic Total budget expenditure on STARS project in India FY 2022-2023
• Premium Statistic Budget allocation towards Samagra Shiksha Scheme in India FY 2022-2023

Education consumer spending per capita worldwide 2020, by country

Ranking of the per capita consumer spending on education by country 2020 (in U.S. dollars)

Budget allocation for education sector in India FY 2018-2023

Total budget allocation for the education sector in India from financial year 2018 to 2023 (in billion Indian rupees)

Budget expenditure on teachers training and adult education in India FY 2022-2023

Total budget expenditure on teachers training and adult education in India for financial year 2022 and 2023 (in billion Indian rupees)

Total budget expenditure on STARS project in India FY 2022-2023

Budget expenditure on Strengthening Teachers-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project in India for financial year 2022 and 2023 (in billion Indian rupees)

Budget allocation towards Samagra Shiksha Scheme in India FY 2022-2023

Total budget allocation towards Samagra Shiksha Scheme in India in financial year 2022 and 2023 (in billion Indian rupees)

School education

• Premium Statistic Number of schools India 2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Number of school students in India FY 2022, by education level
• Premium Statistic Distribution of K-12 schools in India 2023, by funding institution
• Premium Statistic Market share of pre-primary education India 2023, by players
• Premium Statistic Gender parity index at primary school level India FY 2016-2022
• Premium Statistic Net enrollment ratio for primary and upper primary education India FY 2016-2022
• Premium Statistic Gender parity index at higher secondary school level India FY 2016-2022
• Premium Statistic Gross enrollment ratio for higher secondary education India FY 2016-2022

Number of schools India 2022, by type

Number of schools in India in 2022, by type (in 1,000s)

Number of school students in India in financial year 2022, by education level (in millions)

Distribution of K-12 schools in India 2023, by funding institution

Distribution of K-12 school segment in India in 2023, by funding institution

Market share of pre-primary education India 2023, by players

Share of market of pre-primary education in India in 2023, by players

Gender parity index at primary school level India FY 2016-2022

Gender parity index at primary school level in India from financial year 2016 to 2022

Net enrollment ratio for primary and upper primary education India FY 2016-2022

Net enrollment ratio for primary and upper primary education in India from financial year 2016 to 2022

Gender parity index at higher secondary school level India FY 2016-2022

Gender parity index at higher secondary school level in India from financial year 2016 to 2022

Gross enrollment ratio for higher secondary education India FY 2016-2022

Gross enrollment ratio for higher secondary education in India from financial year 2016 to 2022

Higher education

• Premium Statistic Distribution of the higher education market India 2023, by segment
• Premium Statistic Estimated number of student enrolments in higher education in India FY 2020-2035
• Premium Statistic Number of student enrolments in higher education in India FY 2016-2022, by gender
• Premium Statistic Number of universities in India FY 2015-2022
• Premium Statistic Share of universities in India FY 2012-2020, by type
• Premium Statistic Number of colleges in India FY 2016-2021
• Premium Statistic Number of Indian students studying abroad 2017-2022

Distribution of the higher education market India 2023, by segment

Distribution of the higher education market in India in 2023, by segment

Estimated number of student enrolments in higher education in India FY 2020-2035

Estimated number of students enrolled in higher education across India from financial year 2020 to 2035 (in millions)

Number of student enrolments in higher education in India FY 2016-2022, by gender

Number of students enrolled in higher education across India from financial year 2016 to 2022, by gender (in millions)

Number of universities in India FY 2015-2022

Number of universities across India from financial year 2015 to 2022

Share of universities in India FY 2012-2020, by type

Share of universities across India in financial year 2012 and 2020, by type

Number of colleges in India FY 2016-2021

Number of colleges across India from financial year 2016 to 2021 (in 1,000s)

Number of Indian students studying abroad 2017-2022

Number of Indian students studying abroad from 2017 to 2022 (in 1,000s)

Edtech and private coaching

• Premium Statistic Share of students who attend tuition classes in rural India 2018-2022
• Premium Statistic Share of students who attend tuition classes in rural India 2018-2022, by state
• Premium Statistic Leading K12 and test preparation platforms in India 2022, by website traffic
• Premium Statistic Edtech platform users in India 2023, by platform
• Premium Statistic Share of Ed Tech consumers in India 2023, by type
• Premium Statistic Time spent on education apps India 2022, by subgenre
• Premium Statistic Funding raised by Byju's from 2013 to 2023
• Premium Statistic Profit of AESL FY 2014-2020

Share of students who attend tuition classes in rural India 2018-2022

Change rate of students (grade I-VIII) who attend paid tuition classes in rural India between 2018 and 2022

Share of students who attend tuition classes in rural India 2018-2022, by state

Share of students (grade I-VIII) who attend paid tuition classes in rural India between 2018 and 2022, by state

Leading K12 and test preparation platforms in India 2022, by website traffic

Leading K12 and test preparation platforms in India in 2022, by website traffic (in million)

Edtech platform users in India 2023, by platform

Edtech platform users in India in 2023, by platform (in millions)

Share of Ed Tech consumers in India 2023, by type

Share of Ed Tech consumers in India as of January 2023, by type

Time spent on education apps India 2022, by subgenre

Time spent on educational apps in India in 2022, by subgenre (in million hours)

Funding raised by Byju's from 2013 to 2023

Funding raised by Indian Ed-Tech Byju's from 2013 to 2023 (in million U.S. dollars)

Profit of AESL FY 2014-2020

Profit of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) from financial year 2014 to 2020 (in million Indian rupees)

Further reports

Get the best reports to understand your industry.

Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm (EST)

Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm (SGT)

Mon - Fri, 10:00am - 6:00pm (JST)

Mon - Fri, 9:30am - 5pm (GMT)

State of the Education Report for India 2023

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) New Delhi Regional Office launched the fifth edition of its annual flagship report,  Seeds of Change - UNESCO 2023 State of the Education Report for India on Education to address Climate Change .

This year’s report delves into the role of education in tackling the increasingly complex and intensifying challenges posed by climate change. India, like many parts of the world, continues to bear witness to the dire consequences of climate change through climate disasters and biodiversity losses. Education’s full potential to shape a generation that understands the gravity of this urgent issue and equip them with the tools to combat it must be realized now.  

The National Education Policy 2020 underscores the importance of making environmental education an integral part of school curricula at all stages. In order to address climate change in India, the Ministry of Education strongly believes in the role that education can play in resolving impacts of climate change. This report by UNESCO is very timely as it comes at a time when India is making significant strides in working on the issue of climate change.

Education is a transformational tool in our fight against climate change – when we know better, we can do better. Educational systems must adapt to equip younger generations with the knowledge, skills and competencies to prepare them for the impacts of climate change. This year’s UNESCO State of the Education Report for India is dedicated to the pivotal role of education in addressing climate change. We can see from the research that India has already taken some significant steps in this direction, and in doing so, is helping to  promote  sustainable and long-term solutions to this global challenge.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT) commitment to addressing climate change through school education aligns seamlessly with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The NCERT is delighted to know that the UNESCO New Delhi Regional Office has developed this report on the pivotal theme of education to address climate change and I trust this report will be an informative guide for programmes directed towards climate change education.

In 2023, India ranked eighth out of 59 countries and the European Union (collectively accounting for 92% of global greenhouse gas emissions) on climate performance according to the Climate Change Performance Index, rising two spots from the previous year. The country’s new National Curriculum Framework revised in 2023 mentions climate change 52 times. Today, India is a country well-suited for an exploration of climate education innovations, and UNESCO’s report highlights its best practices and future opportunities to do just that. 

UNESCO - has long promoted the mobilization of intersectoral partnerships, political commitments, and youth empowerment as key drivers for fully leveraging education in building a greener and more sustainable future. Its global programme, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), contributes to this end by laying the foundation for global collaboration and policy innovation. Additionally, the Greening Education Partnership (GEP), launched by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2022, provides a practical framework for education stakeholders to take further action and UNESCO serves as the secretariat to the Greening Education Partnership (GEP). 

To date, 80 Member States have joined the Partnership, for which UNESCO serves as the secretariat with strong commitment to green education systems, structured around four pillars of transformative education: 

Greening schools

Greening curriculum

Greening teacher training and education systems’ capacities

Greening communities

The four pillars of the GEP are used as a guide with which the report analyzes India’s state of education to address climate change. The report is a synergy between UNESCO’s globally informed framework and the local expertise cultivated by the research team from the Centre for Environmental Education, India who authored this report. 

The report concludes with ten concrete recommendations for education sector stakeholders, which we hope will facilitate immediate actions to enhance education’s role in addressing climate change. We also hope that the recommendations will inspire stakeholders in the environmental sector to further engage with education in their policy initiatives. 

The ten recommendations are: 

Emphasize the urgent need for collective action to address climate change through education 

Include a climate change education component in all development policies 

Integrate climate change education at all stages of education 

Support educational institutions to be green and climate-ready

Embed climate change perspectives into green skills and vocational education programmes 

Empower teachers with comprehensive climate change education training and resources 

Engage with the youth to build a green future

Incorporate local and traditional knowledge that supports low-carbon lifestyles in climate change education

Promote partnerships to foster innovations in climate change education 

Strengthen and create education-centred portals to provide reliable information on climate change 

The launch event also showcased an engaging exhibition highlighting various initiatives taken to develop education to address climate change in India. 

UNESCO New Delhi Regional Office extends its gratitude to UNICEF India, British Council India, and the Mobius Foundation for their support and cooperation. 

To illustrate the report in an accessible manner, the following audio-visual package is also available free of copyright on  UNESCO New Delhi’s YouTube channel : 

Summary video underlining the recommendations of the report

Short capsules highlighting the key recommendations of the report 

Seeds of Change - 2023 State of the Education report for India on Education to Address Climate Change

Related items.

• Natural sciences
• Future of education
• Policy Advice
• Programme implementation
• Sharing knowledge
• Country page: India
• Region: Asia and the Pacific
• UNESCO Office in New Delhi
• SDG: SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• SDG: SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• See more add

This article is related to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals .

More on this subject

Other recent news

• Ask a query on 9821066299
• Career Center »
• Career Options after Class10 and 12 »
• Diploma vs Degree »

Diploma vs Degree: Difference, Career, Scope and More.

• Naief Khatri
• Updated Date: August 3, 2023

 Degree and diploma are types of recognition conferred on a person on the successful completion of an educational course. However, Diploma vs Degree there are a lot of differences between the two and they aren’t interchangeable. The debate between a is diploma better than degree, which is best diploma or degree.

The debate between a is diploma better than degree, which is best diploma or degree, which is better diploma or degree has been a topic of discussion, and the question of which is better often depends on individual circumstances and career aspirations. Both options have their advantages and value. A diploma typically offers specialized training and practical skills in a specific field and can be completed in a shorter duration. On the other hand, a degree provides a more comprehensive and theoretical understanding of a subject and often requires a more extended period of study. Best Career Options After Scoring Low Percentage In 12th

One of the main differences between diploma and degree is the level of education and the amount of time required to complete the program. Diploma programs are usually shorter than degree programs, often taking one or two years to complete. In contrast, a degree program can take anywhere from three to five years, or even longer for advanced degrees such as PhDs.  Also Check Difference between Ca and ICWA

Another difference between diploma vs degree is the scope of study. Diploma programs are typically focused on a specific subject or skill, such as culinary arts, computer programming, or graphic design. Degree programs, on the other hand, cover a broader range of subjects and provide a more comprehensive education. 

Diploma vs degree which is better to understand that we first need to know what a university is, what AICTE is, and the role of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in India.  Difference Between BBA, BBM and BBS Degree

Diploma vs Degree

Degree Vs Diploma: A degree and a diploma are both academic credentials that can be earned after completing a course of study. However, there are some key degree and a diploma differences between diploma and degree in India.

A degree is a more general credential that typically takes longer to earn than a diploma. Degrees are typically awarded by universities and colleges, and they can be either undergraduate or graduate degrees. Undergraduate degrees typically take four years to complete, while graduate degrees can take anywhere from one to six years to complete. Also read career as CRPF SI & CRPF ASI 2023

About  diploma course meaning is a more specialized credential that typically takes less time to earn than a degree. Diploma degree are typically awarded by vocational schools and technical colleges, and they focus on teaching students the skills and knowledge they need to work in a particular field. Diplomas can typically be completed in one to two years.

The decision of whether to pursue a diploma or degree is a personal one. There is no right or wrong answer, and the best choice for you will depend on your individual circumstances.

Career Prospects

Across the country there are many reputed institutes including the IIMs which offer diploma as well as degree programs. The career prospects for a student depends on the competency of the student, the institute, the kind of course curriculum it offers, and the student’s own work ethic. 

Ultimately, the choice between diploma vs degree will depend on your personal goals and career aspirations. If you’re looking for a comprehensive education and broad career prospects, a degree may be the better choice. But if you’re looking to specialize in a particular field or skill, a diploma may be a more focused and practical option.

difference between course and degree

Difference between degree and course: A course is a series of lessons or units that are designed to teach a specific subject or skill. A degree is an academic credential that is awarded after completing a course of study.

Here are some key differences between courses and degrees:

• Length:  Courses can vary in length, from a few weeks to several years. Degrees , on the other hand, typically take several years to complete.
• Level:  Courses can be at the introductory, intermediate, or advanced level. Degrees, on the other hand, are typically awarded at the undergraduate or graduate level.
• Goals: Courses are typically designed to teach specific skills or knowledge. Degrees, on the other hand, are typically designed to prepare students for a particular career or field of study. Career as Indian Army Technical Soldiers

Here are some examples of courses and degrees:

• Courses:  Introduction to Psychology, Calculus I, Spanish I
• Degrees:  Bachelor of Arts (BA), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Doctor of Medicine (MD)

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees for a number of courses.

UGC stands for the  University Grants Commission . The UGC was established in November 1956 as a statutory body of the Government of India for the coordination, determination, and maintenance of standards of university education in India. All cases pertaining to the allocation of grants-in-aid from public funds to the Central Universities and other Universities and Institutions of higher learning might be referred to the University Grants Commission.

What UGC is to universities, the  All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE ) is to private institutes that impart technical education. The body works towards qualitative improvement of technical education, and towards implementation and proper maintenance of norms and standards in a technical education system.

what is degree course

The duration of a degree course is usually 3 to 4 years and the emphasis is on academics. For example, B.Com (H) is a 3-year degree course that teaches students subjects like accountancy, economics, and business studies; B.Tech is a 4-year degree course that teaches subjects like physics, chemistry and math, and includes the subject one plans to major in, an MBBS is a 5 and 1/2-year long degree that teaches the general aspects of medicine. Read more: Best Mail Sorter Career With Indian Postal Department

Who Confers the Degree

Only a university can confer a degree. To pursue higher education, only a degree from a UGC-approved university is accepted. AICTE-approved private institutes are affiliated to UGC-approved universities. In case a person graduates from an AICTE approved private institute affiliated to a UGC approved university, he still gets the degree of the university. Example: There are many AICTE approved private colleges under Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, but after the completion of the course the student does not get a degree of the institute, he gets a degree of the university in this case, Guru Gobind Singh Indraparastha University

The curriculum is designed in a way that it provides an overview of many subjects, other than the one the student may be interested in. For example, in an engineering degree course for Computer Science, the first year focuses on subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Mechanics, and Engineering Drawing apart from languages like C and COBOL; subsequent years have subjects like Digital Electronics and Analog Electronics. Typically, there is one subject that you major in, called the specialization whereas other subjects are called electives.  Read More: difference Between B.E. and B.Tech

After finishing your degree, you can opt to take up higher education to better your skills or look for a job in your field. For example, after a B.Com (H) degree, you can opt to work in finance or accounting, or apply to college abroad to pursue an MBA or M.Comm.

Eligibility

A person must have successfully passed the 12th standard to pursue a bachelor’s degree. One must possess a bachelor’s degree to pursue a master’s degree.

what is diploma courses

A diploma course is a type of tertiary education that is typically shorter and more specialized than diploma to degree a bachelor’s degree. Diploma courses typically take one to two years to complete, and they focus on teaching students the skills and knowledge they need to work in a particular field.

Who Confers a Diploma

An institute, a polytechnic, or even a university can offer a diploma course. There is no need for the institute or the university to be UGC or AICTE approved.

The Benefits of a Diploma Course

Opting for a diploma course offers several advantages, making it an appealing choice for many individuals:

Time-Efficient : Diploma courses have shorter durations, allowing students to enter the workforce quicker than traditional degree programs.

Cost-Effective : Diploma courses are often more affordable than degrees, helping students avoid excessive education loans.

Practical Learning : Diploma programs emphasize hands-on learning, making graduates more competent in real-world scenarios.

Specialized Skills : Students gain expertise in a specific field, enhancing their employability for industry-specific roles.

Smooth Career Transition : Diploma courses are ideal for career changers or those looking to upgrade their skills in a particular domain.

Industry Recognition : Many employers value the practical training and skill set of diploma holders.

Credit Transfer : In some cases, diploma course credits can be transferred towards further education, should students decide to pursue a degree later on.

The course is designed in a way such that the person gets basic theoretical knowledge about the subject in focus, apart from extensive practical training needed in the job industry. A lot of diploma courses have on-the-job training and apprenticeship, and focus more on practical exams. For example, a diploma in computer science involves subjects centered on programming languages and computer hardware only. India Navy Officer recruitment

A person can enroll for a diploma course even after class 10. There are diploma courses that require the candidate to be an HSC pass-out. Diploma courses at the masters level require the candidate to have a graduate degree.

difference between degree and diploma

Which is best degree or diploma.

Diploma or degree which is better in India, Whether a diploma or degree is better depends on your individual needs and goals. A diploma is typically awarded after completing a shorter, more specialized course of study, while a degree is typically awarded after completing a longer, more general course of study.

Here are some factors to consider when deciding whether to pursue a diploma or degree:

• Length of study:  Diplomas typically take one to two years to complete, while degrees typically take three to four years to complete.
• Cost:  Diplomas are typically less expensive than degrees.
• Job prospects:  Diplomas may be sufficient for some entry-level jobs, but degrees may be required for more senior positions.
• Personal goals:  Consider your long-term career goals and whether a diploma or degree will help you achieve them.

No, a diploma is not a graduate degree. A diploma is typically awarded after completing a shorter, more specialized course of study, while a graduate degree is typically awarded after completing a longer, more general course of study.

A diploma course is a type of tertiary education that is typically shorter and more specialized than a bachelor’s degree. Diploma courses typically take one to two years to complete, and they focus on teaching students the skills and knowledge they need to work in a particular field.

Yes, diplomas have value in India. They are a recognized credential that can help you get a job, advance your career, and earn more money. However, the value of a diploma will vary depending on the field you are in and the specific diploma you have.

A diploma is not a degree. A diploma is a certificate awarded after completing a shorter, more specialized course of study, while a degree is a credential awarded after completing a longer, more general course of study.

The number of diploma degree years takes to go from a diploma to a degree will vary depending on the specific program and the institution you are attending. However, in general, it will take an additional 2-4 years to complete a bachelor’s degree after completing a diploma.

A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) is a degree, not a diploma. It is a four-year undergraduate degree that is typically awarded by universities and colleges. BCom programs typically focus on teaching students the skills and knowledge they need to work in business, accounting, and finance.

Yes, diploma courses have value. They can help you get a job, advance your career, and earn more money. However, the value of a diploma will vary depending on the field you are in and the specific diploma you have.

No, a diploma is not a graduation. A diploma is a certificate awarded after completing a course of study, while graduation is the act of receiving a diploma.

In India, a diploma is a certificate awarded after completing a course of study that is typically shorter and more specialized than a degree. Diploma courses typically take one to two years to complete, and they focus on teaching students the skills and knowledge they need to work in a particular field.

No, a diploma is not a degree in India. A diploma is a certificate awarded after completing a course of study that is typically shorter and more specialized than a degree. Diploma courses typically take one to two years to complete, and they focus on teaching students the skills and knowledge they need to work in a particular field.

Articles Updates:

31/07/2023: Content update, Interlinking 

31/07/2023: Add Faq and infographic

• Search Careers
• Advertise with US
• Become a Publisher
• Engineering
• Computers-IT
• Agriculture
• Mass Communication
• Alternative Education
• Top Colleges Rankings
• CAT, MAT, XAT
• Civil Services – UPSC
• Defence , Insurance , Banks , Railways
• Universities
• Other Apex Bodies
• Professional Courses
• 10th & 12th
• Agriculture. Sci. Tech.
• Miscellaneous
• Study Abroad
• Education Loans
• Distance Education
• Correspondence Courses
• Online Education
• Parent’s Corner
• Teacher’s Corner
• Student’s Corner
• Exam Results & Schedules
• World’s Top Universities

Education Streams

Entrance exams.

• Civil Services - UPSC

Important Institutes

• 10th & 12th

Useful Resources

• Parent's Corner
• Teacher's Corner
• Student's Corner
• Exam Results & Schedules
• World's Top Universities
• Terms And Conditions
• Privacy Notice

Copyright © 2022 Adways VC India Private Limited

Reviving Indian Education

• Policies & Regulations
• Innovations
• Technology Integration
• Levels or Stages of Education in India today

Education in India follows a uniform structure of school education which is known as the 10+2 system. This system is being followed by all Indian States and Union Territories. But not all of them follow a distinct pattern as per the system.

1. Pre Primary Stage –  Pre primary education in India is provided to children between 3–6 years by Kindergarten, Playway or Play Schools. These schools have varying terminology for different levels of classes, beginning from – Pre-Nursery, Nursery, KG, LKG (Lower Kindergarten) and UKG (Upper Kindergarten). Most of the pre-primary education in India is provided by private schools.

2. The Primary Stage  – Primary education in India offered by both private and government schools usually consist of students aged between 5 to 12 years. The duration of study in this stage is 4-5 years. Common subjects include English, Hindi, Mathematics, Environmental Science and General Knowledge. Sometimes also termed as Elementary Education, it is free in government schools but it is paid in the private schools. The Government has made elementary education compulsory for children between the age group of years 6 and 14. Most of the primary education provided by primary schools in India is imparted from  class 1 st  to class 4 th  or 5 th . Some of the states/UTs which follow  1 st  to 5 th  class  of primary education are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi,  Karaikal and Yanam regions of Pondicherry etc. Some of the states/UTs which follow  1 st  to 4 th  classes  of primary education are Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Mahe region of Pondicherry

3) The Middle Stage  – Middle stage of education covering 3-4 years of academic study is formed by  5 th -8 th class  consisting of  students   aged between 12 to 14 years. The schools which impart education up till 8 th  class are known with various names like – High School, Senior School. Some of the states/UTs which follow  5 th  -7 th  class  of middle stage are Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep etc. Some of the states/UTs which follow  6 th  -8 th  class  of middle stage   are Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Delhi etc.

4) The Secondary Stage  – Secondary Stage of education covering 2-3 years of academic study starts with  classes 8 th -10 th . consisting of students aged between 14-16 years. The schools which impart education up till 10 th  class are known as Secondary Schools, High Schools, Senior Schools etc. Some of the states/UTs which follow  8 th  -10 th  class  of secondary stage   are Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep etc. Some of the states/UTs which follow  9 th  -10 th  class  of secondary stage   are Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Delhi, Karaikal region of Pondicherry etc.

5) Senior Secondary Stage  – Senior Secondary Education in India is of only 2 years. There is uniformity on this level of education in terms of duration and classes i.e. all the States/UTs follow this 10+2 pattern. Senior Secondary   Schools in India include  classes 11 th  to 12 th . consisting students aged between 16-18 years. At this level of education students have the freedom to choose their preferred stream and subjects. They can pursue Arts, Commerce, Science (medical & non medical). The schools which provide education up till 12 th  class are commonly known as Senior Secondary Schools or Higher Secondary Schools. Some universities and colleges also offer the education of these classes.

6) Undergraduate Stage –  Undergraduate   education in India is of 3-4 years. Undergraduate stage of education is also known as higher education in India. Students studying in this level, generally begin their education from 18 onwards. As per one estimate 88% of undergraduate education is provided by Colleges in India. Majority of the undergraduate courses of 3 years duration belong to field of arts, humanities, science etc. and majority of 4 years of duration belong to the field of agriculture, engineering, pharmaceutical sciences technology. However, there are courses belonging to fields of architecture, law and medicine whose duration is 5 years.

7) Postgraduate Stage –  Postgraduate   education in India is of 2-3 years. Postgraduate stages of courses are known as Masters courses or Doctorate courses.  Masters course are usually of 2 years duration and doctorate (research) courses are of 3 years duration. Also referred as   higher education, 56% of post-graduate education is imparted through colleges. PG education in India is largely provided by universities in India. PG education caters largely to a specific field or sub field of any preferred discipline. Thus, one can specialise in any of preferred subjects at this level. Those who are interested in conducting large amount of research work pursue these courses.

Adult Education in India –  Adult Education in India comes under the purview of the Department of School Education and Literacy. The Bureau of Adult Education and National Literacy Mission under the Department functions as the Secretariat of the  National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) . National Literacy Mission was set up on 5th May,1988 to impart a new sense of urgency and seriousness to adult education. The Directorate of Adult Education provides necessary technical and resource support to the NLMA.

Distance Education in India –  Distance education provided by institutes is controlled by the Distance Education Council of India. Distance education is helpful to those who cannot join regular schools or colleges. At the school level, National Institute of Open Schooling offers education through distance learning. While, at the college or university level, Open universities provides distance education. Distance education can also be pursued online via internet. Some like the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) provides online education through – BITS Virtual University.

Homeschooling in India –  Homeschooling isn’t widespread in India and neither it is widely accepted. This type of alternative education It is considered for handicapped or those who are unable to attend regular school due to various factors.  While some use Montessori method, Unschooling, Radical Unschooling, Waldorf education or School-at-home. Others prefer CBSE, NIOS or NOS and IGCSE prescribed syllabus.

Comments are closed.

Recent Posts

• Open for Discussion
• Educational Trends
• Education Governing Bodies of Present Education System in India

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

Welch Foundation and Jon Hagler Commit $15 Million to Texas A&M Foundation

Breakthroughs in chemistry will play a crucial part in solving many of the world’s most complex challenges, such as finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, cleaning up the world’s water supply or traveling safely to Mars.

Now thanks to major philanthropic commitments by the Robert A. Welch Foundation and Jon Hagler ’58, Texas A&M University’s Hagler Institute for Advanced Study will bring some of the world’s top chemistry researchers to campus. These leading scholars will work with Texas A&M faculty and students to further foster an innovative research culture that will position the university to be at the forefront of chemistry.

Each of these contributions are earmarked for specific but complementary purposes. The Welch Foundation’s $10 million grant will create the Welch-Hagler Fellows, who will be selected from national academy-level researchers in chemistry and allied fields where advances in chemistry enable multidisciplinary research. “To create a partnership like this with Texas A&M’s Hagler Institute is a compelling opportunity for the Welch Foundation,” said Fred Brazelton, chair of its Board of Directors. “With this funding, we hope to make a meaningful and enduring impact on the students, faculty and future research at the institute.”

Hagler’s $5 million matching investment establishes an endowed chair position that will provide financial support to a Welch-Hagler Fellow who comes to Texas A&M for up to one year to collaborate with faculty and students. “Texas A&M’s chemistry department is nationally ranked,” Hagler said, “and this is an opportunity for it to get even better.”

Additionally, the university has allocated $200,000 per year for at least 10 years to support fellowships for graduate students working directly with the Welch-Hagler Fellows. “These fellowships enable our world-class faculty to pursue their cutting-edge research while also investing in the future through supporting graduate students who will go on to expand the field,” said Dr. Alan Sams, executive vice president and provost for Texas A&M University. “Partnerships like the Welch-Hagler Fellows enable Texas A&M to amplify and broaden the reach of our research impact.”

Overall, this multimillion-dollar investment will enable the institute to build incredible synergy that will enhance faculty research productivity as well as graduate and undergraduate education. And given the far-reaching nature of chemistry and allied interdisciplinary research, the Welch-Hagler Fellows will accelerate researchers in numerous academic units, including chemistry, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science, medicine and biomedical sciences.

Tyson Voelkel ’96, president and CEO of the Texas A&M Foundation, expressed his gratitude for the monumental contribution. “It’s incredibly exciting to visualize the opportunities this funding will enable at Texas A&M,” he said. “Aggieland will be home to industry-leading research that will build a brighter future for our world. The Foundation’s gratitude cannot be overstated for the transformative impact it will make for our university.”

Bringing More World-Class Minds To Texas A&M

The Hagler Institute uses an innovative model to invite the best research minds in the world to engage with Texas A&M by having tenured faculty members who work in departments with graduate programs nominate world-class researchers for a Hagler Fellowship.

A committee of Texas A&M’s senior faculty members evaluate candidates’ scholarly work as well as their commitment to mentoring young faculty and students. “We want to further enhance our legacy of accelerating young people and collaboration across disciplines,” Junkins explained.

Once the committee’s decision is finalized, Junkins offers the approved scholars what he describes as “the mother of all sabbatical opportunities” for the researcher to come to Texas A&M. More often than not, his invitation is accepted.

Since its inception in 2010, the Hagler Institute has attracted 116 Hagler Fellows and 10 Distinguished Lecturers to the university. The Hagler Fellows have included six Nobel Laureates, two Wolf Prize winners, an awardee of the Hubbell Medal in Literature for Lifetime Achievement, an Academy Award winner, and recipients of the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the National Humanities Medal, the State Prize of Russia, and a lifetime achievement award in architecture.

The Institute’s streamlined structure not only brings big academic names to the university but also helps the university’s academic programs continue to move to the top tier of national universities. As a result, the university is well positioned to continue to be a global academic and research leader.

Texas A&M’s faculty and students have benefited from the institute’s work. For example, its efforts to bring Hagler Fellows to the university has elevated Texas A&M faculty’s research output, helping them be elected to national academies.

The institute has also proven to be an excellent recruiting mechanism to bring top talent to Texas A&M. More than 20% of Fellows who completed their time in the institute decided to join the university’s permanent faculty. And their presence has been a game changer, opening the door for the recruitment of additional national academy-level scholars to the university’s faculty.

Reaching The Next Level

This latest funding marks a significant milestone for the institute. “The Welch Foundation endowment and matching funds will enable the Hagler Institute to average about 12 Fellows and 24 graduate students per year for the immediate future, as compared with an average of about nine Hagler Fellows and 18 graduate students per year during the institute’s first decade,” Junkins said.

Hagler, who has played an important role at Texas A&M both as a philanthropist and a strategic thinker over the years, believes this combined funding will help the institute continue to enhance faculty quality, strengthen the graduate and undergraduate experience, and build the arts and sciences core at a time when many higher education institutions are struggling.

“Serving as co-chair of Vision 2020 in the late 1990s gave me an enhanced appreciation for the difficulty of pursuing academic excellence and the fragility of that excellence,” Hagler explained. “Fortunately for Texas A&M, the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study encourages scholars from all over the country and the world to come to our campus, which strengthens our graduate program and becomes a virtuous cycle of thinking outside the box.”

Four Oregon State Students Selected for Fulbright U.S. Student Program

Texas A&M Research Collaboration Unveils Lifesaving ‘Ark’ Technology for Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Texas A&M Research Collaboration Unveils Lifesaving ‘Ark’ Technology for Chronic…

NYU Celebrates 191st Commencement at Yankee Stadium

Two NYU Professors Elected to Royal Society

Welcome, Login to your account.

Recover your password.

A password will be e-mailed to you.

• Bahasa Indonesia

Student and Temporary Graduate visa changes: 2024

A summary of recent announcements

Main content

14 May 2024

The Australian Government’s Migration Strategy was released on 11 December 2023. The Strategy is designed to further strengthen the integrity and quality of Australia’s international education programs, better protect international students and support graduates to achieve their career goals.  

Summary of changes 

1. new financial capacity requirement .

From 10 May 2024, the financial requirement that applies to Student and Student Guardian visas will be set at $29,710 for an individual student. The new financial requirement apply to any visas lodged on or after 10 May 2024. For more information visit the Department of Home Affairs website.

2. TOEFL iBT has been reinstated for visa purposes 

TOEFL iBT is again a valid test for student visa purposes and is accepted by all Australian universities. Please note that tests taken between 26 July  2023, and 4 May 2024, are not valid. Tests taken before 26 July  2023, remain valid for two years. 

3. New Genuine Student (GS) requirement 

From 23 March 2024, the new Genuine Student (GS) requirement have replaced the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement with a list of targeted questions.    

4. New English language requirements  

From 23 March 2024, new English language requirements apply to all Student Visa and Temporary Graduate Visa applications.  

Upcoming changes  

1. temporary graduate visa length will be reduced .

The length of post-study work visas will change . However, Australia’s Temporary Graduate visa will still give you time to gain valuable work experience and demonstrate your skills to Australian employers. 

If you gain work in a skilled job during your post-study work period, you may be eligible to apply for the new 4-year Skills in Demand visa. This visa provides a clearer pathway to permanent residency. 

Initial stay periods for Indian nationals will not change, as agreed in the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement. See the  Migration Strategy  for further details.

This change is intended to come into effect from 1 July 2024. 

2. New age limit for Temporary Graduate visa  

The maximum eligible age for Temporary Graduate visa applicants will reduce to 35 years of age or under.   

This change is intended to come into effect from 1 July 2024.  

You may also like

Footer content.

• Skip to Content
• Skip to Main Navigation
• Skip to Search

Indiana University Indianapolis Indiana University Indianapolis IU Indianapolis

• Attendee Information
• Exhibitor Information
• Getting You Into IU Indianapolis
• Student Awards
• Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Doctoral Scholars
• Commitment to Diversity
• IUPUI Graduate Emissaries for Student Diversity
• Measures of Quality
• Doctoral - Research Student Data
• Accelerated Degrees
• Graduate Non-Degree Program
• Future Student FAQs
• About IUPUI
• Visit IUPUI
• How to Apply
• Tuition & Fees
• Indiana Partner Tuition Participating Programs
• Fellowships & Awards
• Travel Fellowships
• Student Loans
• Tax Information
• IU Graduate Bulletin
• Responsible Conduct and Ethics
• Timeline for Graduation
• IU Degree, Transcript, Diploma/Certificate
• IU Dissertation Defense Announcements
• Getting Oriented
• Events and Resources
• 3MT and 3MP Competitions
• IUPUI Graduate Mentoring Center
• IUPUI Graduate Commons
• Grad Parent Network
• CIRTL at IUPUI
• Research Funding
• Campus Transportation
• Campus Safety
• Health & Wellness
• Health Insurance
• IUPUI Dining Services
• Disability Services
• Virtual Resources for Current Students
• Virtual Resources for Prospective Students
• Fellowship Subcommittee
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Graduate or Professional Degree Program
• Graduate or Professional Degree Certificate
• Graduate or Professional Degree Sub Plans (tracks, transcripts)
• Propose Accelerated or Dual Degree
• Graduate or Professional Degree Minor
• Changes to Existing Degrees
• Add or Change Courses to Curriculum
• Academic Reviews
• Graduate Recruitment Council
• Graduate Faculty Council
• Membership to Graduate Faculty
• Mentor Graduate Students
• School of Science Realignment FAQ for Graduate Students

Indiana University Graduate School Indianapolis

• Purdue Graduate Students
• Application & Admissions

Graduate Programs

IUPUI offers over 250 graduate degrees to students interested in pursuing a Ph.D., a professional degree, a master's degree, or a graduate certificate. Several of these degrees are not offered by any other public institution in the state.

In addition, current IUPUI undergraduates have the opportunity to explore many different accelerated bachelor’s to master’s degree programs . Accelerated bachelor’s to master’s degree programs allow ambitious IUPUI undergraduate students the opportunity to earn both a bachelor’s degree AND a master’s degree in a shorter time frame than if pursued independent of each other (i.e., 5 years vs. 6 years).

IUPUI Graduate & Professional Programs by School

Herron school of art & design, kelley school of business, lilly family school of philanthropy, luddy school of informatics, computing & engineering, paul h. o'neill school of public and environmental affairs, richard m. fairbanks school of public health, robert h. mckinney school of law, school of dentistry, school of education, school of health & human sciences, school of liberal arts, school of medicine, school of nursing, school of social work, school of science.

Programs with an asterisk (*) are IU degrees offered through Purdue University at IUPUI and are administered through the Indiana University Graduate School.

Looking for Computer Science degree programs? Luddy School of Informatics, Computing & Engineering offer degrees in this field.

School of Engineering and Technology

Engineering and Technology will become a part of Purdue University in Indianapolis on July 1, 2024. Contact Purdue University for information on their programs.

You can also browse all academic programs offered at IUPUI, including master's degrees , doctoral and professional degrees , and graduate certificates on the IUPUI academic degrees and majors website.

Ph.D. Minors

Approved ph.d. minors.

As new minors are approved, this list will be updated, so please check back often.

All other minors will be considered Individualized.

Indiana University Graduate School Indianapolis resources and social media channels

• Give Now - support graduate students