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A PIB Backgrounder issued on 30 August 2026 compiles a decade of All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) data, from 2014-15 to 2023-24.
Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education rose from 23.7% in 2014-15 to 30% in 2023-24, against the National Education Policy 2020 target of 50% by 2035.
Universities grew from 760 to 1,289 (69.6%) and total enrolment from 3.42 crore to 4.50 crore (31.5%).
Gender Parity Index improved from 0.92 to 1.08, with female GER (31.2%) above male GER (28.9%) for the seventh consecutive year.
OBC enrolment share rose the most among social categories, from 32.8% to 40.1%.
GER in higher education is enrolment expressed as a percentage of the population in the 18-23 age group, so it can exceed the share of that age group actually studying if older or younger learners enrol. GPI is the ratio of female GER to male GER: exactly 1 means parity, below 1 means a disparity favouring males, and above 1 means a disparity favouring females — India's 1.08 in 2023-24 therefore means women are participating at a higher rate than men relative to their populations. Out-turn is the total number of students who pass out of higher education institutions in an academic year, so it measures completion rather than entry.
Simple Analogy: GER counts who walked into the building; out-turn counts who walked out with a degree; GPI checks whether men and women entered in the same proportion.
Replace the National Policy on Education, 1986 and build a holistic, multidisciplinary system aligned to SDG 4; raise higher education GER to 50% by 2035.
Key: Released on 29-30 July 2020 by the Ministry of Education; drafted by a committee chaired by Dr K. Kasturirangan constituted in June 2017, whose draft went for public consultation in May 2019.
Fund State higher education institutions for access, equity and quality in line with NEP 2020.
Key: Centrally sponsored scheme launched in June 2023 as the restructured successor to Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA, phase I in 2013, phase II in 2018); outlay of Rs 12,926.10 crore for 2023-24 to 2025-26.
Create globally competitive Indian institutions with greater academic, administrative and financial autonomy.
Key: Set up by the UGC in 2017 for up to 20 institutions — 10 public and 10 private; public institutions get a grant of up to Rs 1,000 crore, private ones get autonomy but no central funding.
Let students bank credits earned at one institution and redeem them at another, enabling multiple entry and exit.
Key: Notified by the UGC in the Gazette of India on 28 July 2021; applies to central, state and provincial universities, deemed-to-be universities and autonomous colleges.
Build an annual evidence base on higher education institutions to track NEP 2020 reforms and identify gaps.
Key: Initiated by the Ministry of Education in 2010-11 with a reference date of 30 September 2010; every figure in this backgrounder is drawn from it.
Rank Indian higher education institutions on a common methodology.
Key: Launched by the Ministry of Education on 29 September 2015; parameters include teaching-learning and resources, research, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity, and perception.
Coordinates, determines and maintains standards of university education; disburses grants to universities and colleges
Assesses and accredits higher education institutions; set up on the recommendation of the National Policy on Education, 1986
Conducts AISHE, frames higher education policy and runs PM-USHA and the IoE scheme
| Group | GER 2014-15 | GER 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|
| All students | 23.7% | 30% |
| Female students | 22.9% | 31.2% |
| Male students | Not stated in the release | 28.9% |
| Scheduled Castes | 18.9% | 27.8% |
| Scheduled Tribes | 13.5% | 22.8% |
SDG 4 commits countries to inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all; NEP 2020 explicitly frames its higher education goals against it, which is why the backgrounder opens with SDG 4.
GER measures participation of the 18-23 cohort. India's dividend window depends on converting that cohort into skilled workers, so a GER stuck at 30% is an economics question, not only an education one.
GPI is used at every level of education and in literacy statistics, so the same 0-to-above-1 interpretation appears in Economic Survey and NFHS-based questions.
The rise in SC, ST and OBC enrolment shares is the outcome measure most often cited in debates on reservation in higher education institutions.
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector: Education
General Awareness > Indian Polity and Schemes
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Reports
Education data and NEP 2020 targets appear almost every year in Prelims and in GS-2 social sector questions.
Enrolment in higher education as a percentage of the population in the 18-23 age group.
Ratio of female GER to male GER; 1 = parity, below 1 favours males, above 1 favours females.
The total number of students who pass out of higher education institutions in an academic year.
An institution offering diploma or specialised programmes without affiliation to a university, counted separately in AISHE from universities and colleges.
Category under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act for persons with at least 40% of a specified disability, used in AISHE's inclusion data.