Flood of private universities in the country in last 10 years, pace of government institutions remains slow

Higher education is changing rapidly in the country. There has been a record increase in the number of universities in the last decade, but the biggest change has come in the form of the expansion of private universities. Data from the Education Ministry’s All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023-24 shows that between 2013-14 and 2023-24, more than 550 new universities were added in India, in which the largest share was from private institutions.

According to the data, there were a total of 723 universities in the country in the year 2013-14, which will increase to 1,279 by 2023-24. That means the total number of universities increased by about 77 percent in ten years. However, during this period the expansion of private universities was much faster than that of government universities.

A decade ago, there were 219 private universities in the country, whose number has now increased to 546. That means their number increased by about 149 percent. On the other hand, the number of government universities increased from 504 to 733, which is an increase of about 45 percent. This means that private universities have grown more than three times faster than government institutions.

This state is at the forefront

Talking about states, the biggest change in this race was seen in Gujarat. In 2013-14, there were only 16 private universities, but by 2023-24 their number will increase to 67. That means, in ten years, 51 new private universities were added to the state, which is the highest in the country. After this, Madhya Pradesh stood second, where 41 new private universities were established.

At one time Rajasthan was at first place in terms of number of private universities. In the year 2013-14, there were 39 private universities, but now Gujarat has left it behind. At present, after Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are among the top states in terms of number of private universities.

Also read – Why is there so much craze for government jobs in India, why is the thinking of youth different in foreign countries?

In the case of government universities, the picture remained largely stable. Uttar Pradesh was at the forefront earlier also and remains at the top even today. The number of government universities here increased from 35 to 58. Karnataka also retained the second position, while West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh made it to the top five states.

However, the increase in the number of universities does not mean that the number of students has also increased in the same proportion. AISHE figures show that even today most students study in government universities. In the year 2013-14, 51.9 lakh students were studying in government universities, which was 81.3 percent of the total enrolment. In 2023-24, this number increased to 73.9 lakh, but the total share decreased to 68.1 percent.

The number of students studying in private universities increased

On the other hand, there has been a sharp increase in the number of students studying in private universities. In the year 2013-14, there were 11.9 lakh students in these institutions, while in 2023-24 this number increased to 34.6 lakh. That is, enrollment in private universities has increased almost three times and now their share in total university students has increased to about 32 percent.

Also read – Big news for those with CUET scores, UG admission starts in CUSB; Apply by 16th July

Education Loan Information:
Calculate Education Loan EMI