Higher education enrolment hits record 4.5 crore; Female enrolment jumps 42.2% over a decade; STEM enrolment crosses 1 crore

The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) reports for 2022-23 and 2023-24, released on Wednesday, show total student enrolment rising to a record 4.50 crore in 2023-24, up 31.5% from 3.42 crore in 2014-15, driven by sharp gains in women's participation and enrolment in STEM courses.

A key driver of this growth has been women's enrolment, which rose 42.2% over the past decade to 2.24 crore, according to the reports. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for the 18-23 age group reached 30.0 in 2023-24, from 23.7 in 2014-15

The female GER stood at 31.2, compared to 22.9 a decade prior. This brings the national Gender Parity Index to 1.08, indicating that female college participation has remained higher than male participation for seven consecutive years.


Enrolment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses also rose, increasing to 1.02 crore in 2023-24, from 91.5 lakh in 2014-15. Women now account for 44% of total STEM enrolment, up from 38.4% in 2014-15.

Enrolment also recorded strong gains across social categories over the decade.

Scheduled Tribe enrolment rose 75.7% to 28.83 lakh, while enrolment among Other Backward Classes (OBCs) increased 60.2% to 1.80 crore. Scheduled Caste (SC) enrolment grew 51.4% to 69.72 lakh.

Minority student enrolment increased 52% over the decade, rising to 33.3 lakh in 2023-24 from 21.8 lakh in 2014-15. Female enrolment among minority students grew even faster, increasing 62.9% during the same period.

Faculty Numbers too Rise

The higher education sector's teaching workforce grew to 17.32 lakh faculty members in 2023-24. The number of women faculty increased from 5.69 lakh to 7.78 lakh over the decade, although men continue to account for the majority of teachers at 55.1%, the report said.

UG Enrolment at 76.8%

About 76.8% of students are enrolled in undergraduate (UG) courses, while 12.9% are pursuing postgraduate (PG) programmes.

At the UG level, Arts continues to attract the largest share of students (32.1%), followed by Science (13.5%), Engineering & Technology (12.9%) and Commerce (12.0%), the report said.

At the postgraduate (PG) level, Social Sciences account for the highest enrolment (18.6%), followed closely by Management (18.2%). Overall, STEM courses accounted for 1.01 crore students, or 22.5% of total enrolment in 2023-24. Women outnumbered men in the Science stream, the report said.

Overall, only 58,134. Foreign students are enrolled in India and they come have from 173 different countries with Nepal at the highest share of 24%.