An increase in colleges, students but not enough teachers

While India’s higher education sector has expanded rapidly in recent decades, with many new institutions and more students enrolled than ever before, has this expansion truly translated into equitable access alongside adequate capacity for delivering quality education? The State of Working India 2026 report tries to answer this.

India’s higher education sector has seen massive expansion in the last few decades, at least in terms of the setting up of colleges and universities. From about 1,600 colleges and universities in 1950, most of which were publicly funded, the number had grown to over 69,000 by 2022. Most of this expansion has been recent, and driven largely by private providers. College density has also increased nationally, from 29 colleges per lakh youth in 2010 to 45 in 2021. But large regional disparities remain. For instance, many districts in northern and eastern States have fewer than 18 colleges per lakh youth population.