Enrollment In Higher Education Crosses 4 Crore-Mark For First Time: AISHE 2020-2021 Report

AISHE 2020-2021 survey shows that total enrollment in higher education in India has increased to approximately 4.14 crore in 2020-21.

The Female enrolment has increased to 2.01 crore from 1.88 crores in 2019-20. 

The Ministry of Education has released the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-2021. The Ministry has been conducting the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) annually since 2011. This survey covers all higher education institutions in India and collects data on student enrollment, teachers, infrastructure, finances, etc. For the first time, in AISHE 2020-21, HEIs have filled data using an entirely online data collection platform through the Web Data Capture Format (DCF) developed by the Department of Higher Education through the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

AISHE 2020-2021 survey shows that total enrollment in higher education in India has increased to approximately 4.14 crore in 2020-21, up from 3.85 crores in 2019-20. This marks an increase of 72 lakh (21 percent) in enrollments, since 2014-15.

AISHE 2020-21 Survey Report Top Points:

Check key highlights of the survey:

• The total enrollment in higher education has increased to nearly 4.14 crore in 2020-21 from 3.85 crores in 2019-20.  Since 2014-15, there has been an increase of around 72 Lakh in enrolment (21%). 
• The Female enrolment has increased to 2.01 crore from 1.88 crores in 2019-20. There has been an increase of around 44 Lakh (28%) since 2014-15.
• The percentage of female enrolment to total enrolment has increased from 45% in 2014-15 to around 49% in 2020-21.
• As per 2011 population projections for 18-23 years age group, GER has increased to 27.3 from 25.6 in 2019-20.
• A notable increase of 1.9 points is observed in GER of ST students in 2020-21, as compared to 2019-20.
• Female GER has overtaken Male GER since 2017-18. Gender Parity Index (GPI), the ratio of female GER to male GER, has increased from 1 in 2017-18 to 1.05 in 2020-21.
• The enrolment of SC students is 58.95 Lakh as compared to 56.57 Lakh in 2019-20 and 46.06 Lakh in 2014-15.
• The enrolment of ST students has increased to 24.1 Lakh in 2020-21 from 21.6 Lakh in 2019-20 and 16.41 Lakh in 2014-15.
• The average annual enrolment of ST students has increased to around 1 Lakh during the period 2014- 15 to 2020-21, from around 75,000 during the period 2007-08 to 2014-15.
• Enrolment of OBC students has also increased by 6 Lakh to 1.48 crore in 2020-21, from 1.42 crore in 2019-20. There is a notable increase in OBC student enrolment since 2014-15 of around 36 Lakh (32%).
• The total Student Enrolment in North East States is 12.06 Lakh in 2020-21 as compared to 9.36 Lakh in 2014-15.
• The female enrolment in North East States is 6.14 lakh in 2020-21, higher than the male enrolment of 5.92 lakh [For every 100 male students, there are 104 female students in NER].  Female enrolment outnumbered male enrolment for first time in 2018-19, and the trend continues.
• The enrolment in Distance Education is 45.71 Lakh (with 20.9 Lakh Female), an increase of around 7% since 2019-20 and 20% since 2014-15.
• Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan are the top 6 States in terms of number of student enrolled.
• As per response in AISHE 2020-21, about 79.06% of the total students are enrolled in undergraduate-level courses and 11.5% are enrolled in postgraduate-level courses.
• Among Disciplines at the undergraduate level, enrollment is highest in Arts (33.5%), followed by Science (15.5%), Commerce (13.9%) and Engineering & Technology (11.9%).
• Among streams at the postgraduate level, the maximum number of students are enrolled in Social Science (20.56%) followed by science (14.83%).
• Of the total enrolment, 55.5 Lakh students are enrolled in Science Stream, with female students (29.5 Lakh) outnumbering male students (26 Lakh).
• Government Universities (59% of the total) contribute towards 73.1% of the enrolment. Government Colleges (21.4% of the total) contribute towards 34.5% of the enrolment.
• The enrolment in the Institute of National Importance (INIs) has increased by nearly 61% during the period 2014-15 to 2020-21.
• Enrolment has increased in 2020-21 compared to 2014-15 in the Specialized Universities relating to Defence, Sanskrit, Biotechnology, Forensics, Design, Sports, etc.
• The total number of pass-outs has increased to 95.4 Lakh in 2020-21 as against 94 Lakh in 2019-20.