The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for the year 2021-2022, unveiled by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, reveals a significant rise in higher education enrolment. As per the report, released on Thursday, the number of students in higher education has soared to approximately 4.33 crore in the academic year 2021-22. This marks an increase of 26.5% from the 2014-15 figure of 3.42 crore.
In the same period, the survey notes the establishment of 341 universities and similar level institutions. Additionally, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) has escalated to 28.4 in 2021-22 from 23.7 in 2014-15, with the female GER witnessing a rise from 22.9 to 28.5.
A closer look at the enrolment trends reveals that female participation in higher education has surged, reaching 2.07 crore in 2021-22, up from 1.57 crore in 2014-15. Enrolment among Scheduled Caste (SC) students has also seen a significant increase of 44%, standing at 66.23 lakh in 2021-22 compared to 46.07 lakh in 2014-15. The enrolment of SC female students has risen notably as well.
The report further highlights an increase in enrolments among Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) students, which are now at 27.1 lakh and 1.63 crore respectively in 2021-22.
The AISHE 2021-22 report details the total count of universities and college-level institutions at 1,168 and 45,473 respectively, with standalone institutions numbering 12,002. In terms of undergraduate enrolment, the Arts stream leads at 34.2%, followed by Science, Commerce, and Engineering & Technology. At the postgraduate level, Social Science is the most popular stream, followed by Science.
There has been a remarkable 81.2% increase in Ph.D. enrolment since 2014-15, reaching 2.12 lakh in 2021-22. The report also notes a growth in the number of faculty and teachers, especially among females, with female faculty increasing by 22% since 2014-15 and a marginal improvement in the female-to-male faculty ratio.
