AISHE Report 2023-24 vs 2022-23: Complete Higher Education Data

The Ministry of Education released the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) reports for 2022-23 and 2023-24 together in July 2026, giving India its most complete recent picture of enrolment, gender parity, and institutional growth in higher education. Based on a direct analysis of both official datasets, this report breaks down what actually changed between the two years — and what it means for students, policymakers, and institutions tracking progress toward the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020’s 50% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) target by 2035.

What is AISHE and Why Does It Matter?

AISHE is an annual, largely voluntary survey run by the Department of Higher Education since 2010-11. It is India’s primary official source for statistics on universities, colleges, student enrolment, faculty strength, and institutional infrastructure, and it directly feeds into education policy and fund allocation decisions. Because participation is self-reported, data for non-responding institutions is often estimated from prior-year submissions — a limitation worth keeping in mind when reading the numbers.

Total Enrolment: Slow but Steady Growth

According to the official AISHE datasets, total higher education enrolment rose from 4.46 crore in 2022-23 to 4.50 crore in 2023-24, an increase of roughly 3.7 lakh students, or about 0.8% year-on-year. This is a much gentler pace than the double-digit jumps seen in the early 2020s, suggesting enrolment growth is beginning to plateau even as the base has expanded significantly since 2014-15, when total enrolment stood at 3.42 crore.

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) Crosses the 30% Mark

The GER the share of the 18-23 age population enrolled in higher education improved from 29.5% in 2022-23 to just over 30% in 2023-24. Broken down by gender, female GER rose from 30.2% to 31.2%, while male GER stayed nearly flat at around 28.9%. That means women are now more likely than men to be enrolled in higher education, a trend that has held for seven consecutive years.

This pattern also produced a Gender Parity Index (GPI) of 1.08 in 2023-24, up from roughly 1.04 the previous year. A GPI above 1 indicates more women than men are participating relative to their population share — though in absolute headcount, male students still edge out female students slightly (about 50.3% vs 49.7%), largely due to India’s underlying sex-ratio skew in the 18-23 age cohort rather than any access gap.

Institutional Expansion: More Universities and Colleges

The number of universities recognised under AISHE grew from 1,213 in 2022-23 to 1,289 in 2023-24, an addition of 76 universities in a single year. Colleges grew more modestly, from 46,439 to 48,246, an increase of about 1,800 colleges (roughly 3.9%). State Private Universities and Deemed-to-be-Private Universities continue to account for a large share of this new capacity, reflecting the steady privatisation of India’s higher education landscape noted in recent commentary on the sector.

Faculty Strength and the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR)

Total teaching staff increased from about 16.64 lakh in 2022-23 to 17.32 lakh in 2023-24, a gain of roughly 68,000 faculty positions (4.1%). This helped nudge the all-institution Pupil-Teacher Ratio down from 26:1 to approximately 25:1 — a modest improvement, though still short of the 20:1 ratio recommended under NEP 2020 for optimal teaching quality. Female representation in faculty also continues to rise, now accounting for close to 45% of all teaching staff nationally.

PhD, Postgraduate, and UG Enrolment Shifts

Doctoral enrolment showed the sharpest jump in the dataset, climbing from about 2.33 lakh in 2022-23 to 3.44 lakh in 2023-24, a rise of nearly 47%. This coincides with the government’s continued push through the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to strengthen India’s research base, though India’s overall Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) remains stagnant at 0.6-0.7% of GDP, well below the levels needed to sustain this expansion.

Postgraduate enrolment also grew modestly, while undergraduate enrolment — which accounts for over 75% of total enrolment — remained largely flat, edging from roughly 3.46 crore to 3.46 crore students, indicating that most of the year’s growth came from postgraduate and doctoral levels rather than fresh UG intake.

Social Inclusion: SC, ST, and OBC Enrolment

Government data shows enrolment among Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Other Backward Class students has climbed substantially since 2014-15 — by 51.4%, 75.7%, and 60.2% respectively — with 2023-24 enrolment reaching approximately 69.7 lakh SC, 28.8 lakh ST, and 1.8 crore OBC students. GER for SC students rose to 27.8% and for ST students to 22.8% in 2023-24, both still trailing the national average, pointing to a continuing — if narrowing — equity gap.

STEM Enrolment and the Employability Question

STEM enrolment increased from roughly 91.5 lakh in 2014-15 to about 1.02 crore in 2023-24, with the share of female students in STEM disciplines rising from 38.4% to 44%. This expansion in technical and science education, however, sits uneasily alongside persistent employability concerns: recent labour-market surveys cited alongside the AISHE release point to graduate unemployment near 40% among those under 25, and a national employability rate of just under 55%, underlining that rising enrolment has not yet translated into proportionate job-readiness.

The Bigger Picture: Quality vs. Scale

Commentary accompanying the AISHE 2022-24 releases has repeatedly flagged a “scale versus quality” trade-off. India now runs one of the largest higher education systems in the world by volume, yet faculty vacancies remain high — one 2025 parliamentary panel found nearly 28% of teaching posts and 48% of non-teaching posts vacant in central universities alone. State public universities, which enrol over 85% of all students, remain comparatively underfunded next to centrally backed institutions like the IITs and IIMs. Closing this gap, alongside sustained investment in faculty recruitment and R&D, will likely determine whether India’s rising GER converts into genuine educational and economic gains on the road to the NEP’s 2035 targets.

Key Takeaways

• Total enrolment: 4.46 crore (2022-23) → 4.50 crore (2023-24)
• GER: 29.5% → just over 30%
• GPI: ~1.04 → 1.08 (female participation now exceeds male for the 7th straight year)
• Universities: 1,213 → 1,289; Colleges: 46,439 → 48,246
• Faculty: ~16.64 lakh → 17.32 lakh; PTR improved from 26:1 to ~25:1
• PhD enrolment jumped nearly 47% year-on-year
• SC/ST/OBC enrolment continues to grow faster than the national average since 2014-15

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the AISHE report and who publishes it?

The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) is an annual survey conducted by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, since 2010-11. It is India’s official source of data on university and college enrolment, faculty, and institutional infrastructure.

What is the total higher education enrolment in India as per AISHE 2023-24?

Total enrolment reached approximately 4.50 crore students in 2023-24, up from about 4.46 crore in 2022-23.

What is India’s current Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education?

GER stood at just over 30% in 2023-24, up from around 29.5% in 2022-23. NEP 2020 targets a GER of 50% by 2035.

What is the Gender Parity Index (GPI) in AISHE 2023-24?

The GPI was 1.08 in 2023-24, meaning female GER (31.2%) exceeded male GER (28.9%) — a trend that has continued for seven consecutive years.

How many universities and colleges are there in India according to AISHE 2023-24?

As per AISHE 2023-24, India had 1,289 universities and 48,246 colleges, up from 1,213 universities and 46,439 colleges in 2022-23.

Why did the 2022-23 and 2023-24 AISHE reports release together?

Both reports were released close together in 2026, several years after their respective reference academic years, reflecting AISHE’s typical multi-year data compilation and validation cycle.

What are the biggest challenges facing India’s higher education sector despite rising enrolment?

Key challenges include graduate unemployment, faculty vacancies, low R&D spending, underfunded state universities, and a rural-urban and digital access divide all flagged in expert commentary alongside the AISHE data releases.