India's higher education system, by the numbers
AISHE 2023-24 is the 14th edition of India's largest higher education census, compiled by the Statistics Bureau of the Department of Higher Education. A total of 64,756 institutions: universities, colleges and standalone institutes, were part of the survey frame, of which 59,553 (about 92%) responded, one of the highest participation rates the survey has recorded.
Female enrolment reached 2.2 crore (49.7% of the total), up 42.2% since 2014-15. Enrolment among social categories also grew: SC students (15.5% of total enrolment) rose 23.2% over the last five years; ST students (6.4%) rose 33.7%; and OBC students (40.1%, the largest single category) rose 26.6% over the same period.
Gender parity keeps improving
Female Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) stood at 31.2 against male GER of 28.9, meaning female participation in higher education has now exceeded male participation for the seventh year running. The Gender Parity Index (GPI), the ratio of female to male GER, is 1.08 nationally, and has stayed above 1 since 2017-18.
Institutions on the ground
- 1,278 universities responded (out of 1,289 registered): 733 government-managed, 546 private (un-aided), 10 private-deemed (aided).
- 46,468 colleges responded (out of 48,246 registered): 70.0% private (un-aided), 17.1% government, 12.9% private (aided).
- 11,787 standalone institutions responded (out of 15,221 registered): this category includes polytechnics, teacher-training institutes, nursing colleges and, notably for MBA aspirants, standalone PGDM institutes.
Where postgraduate students are enrolling: and where Management stands
Of India's 4.50 crore higher-ed students, 76.8% are enrolled at the undergraduate level and 12.9% at the postgraduate level. At UG, Arts remains the dominant discipline by a wide margin. But the postgraduate picture looks different, and this is where Management shows up as one of the two largest choices in the country.
What this means if you're evaluating an MBA
Standalone PGDM institutes: a data gap worth knowing about
The survey separately tracks standalone PGDM institutes, business schools that award diplomas rather than university-affiliated degrees. Of 363 PGDM institutes registered on the AISHE portal, only 235 (about 65%) submitted data for 2023-24, a notably lower response rate than the survey's overall 92%.
The system feeding the MBA applicant pool
A few broader numbers are useful context for anyone tracking the health of India's management-education pipeline over the next few admission cycles:
| Metric | 2023-24 | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Total university enrolment | 1.09 crore | Government universities: 68.1% · Private: 31.9% |
| STEM enrolment | 1.01 crore (22.5%) | Females outnumber males in the Science stream |
| Female GER | 31.2 | Ahead of male GER (28.9) for the 7th straight year |
| Total teachers | 17.3 lakh | 55.1% male, 44.9% female |
| Foreign students | 58,134 | From 173 countries; Nepal is the largest source (24.1%) |
Key takeaways
- 1Management remains a top-two postgraduate choice nationally, near-tied with Social Science, so competition for seats at well-regarded institutes isn't easing.
- 2MBA out-turn (2.8 lakh/year) is the third-largest of any PG programme, reflecting how deeply management education is embedded in India's postgraduate landscape.
- 3AISHE's coverage of standalone PGDM institutes is incomplete (65% response), use it as one data point among several, not the sole basis for comparing individual B-schools.
- 4Female enrolment and GER are climbing nationally, B-school gender ratios are part of that broader trend rather than an isolated story.
Download the full AISHE 2023-24 report (PDF) →
