Female enrollment in higher education surged by 32% from 2014 to 2021-22, according to the latest findings from the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) released by the Ministry of Education.

The report revealed that the number of female students in higher education rose to 2.07 crore in 2021-22 from 1.57 crore in 2014-15, marking an increase of 50 lakh students. Additionally, enrollment of Scheduled Caste (SC) students saw a 44% increase, reaching 66.23 lakh in 2021-22 compared to 46.07 lakh in 2014-15.

Overall, total enrollment in higher education reached nearly 4.33 crore in 2021-22, up from 4.14 crore in the previous academic year. This represents an increase of around 91 lakh students since 2014-15.

The Ministry highlighted significant increases in enrollment across various demographic groups. Enrollment of SC female students grew by 51% since 2014-15, while Scheduled Tribe (ST) student enrollment increased by 65.2%. Similarly, enrollment of Other Backward Classes (OBC) students rose to 1.63 crore in 2021-22 from 1.13 crore in 2014-15, reflecting a notable increase.

Furthermore, enrollment of minority students increased by 38%, with female minority student enrollment witnessing a substantial rise from 10.7 lakh in 2014-15 to 15.2 lakh in 2021-22.

In the North East States, total student enrollment reached 12.02 lakh in 2021-22, compared to 9.36 lakh in 2014-15. Notably, female enrollment surpassed male enrollment in the region, with 6.07 lakh female students compared to 5.95 lakh male students.

The AISHE 2021-22 data revealed that the majority of students, 78.9%, are enrolled in undergraduate level courses, while 12.1% are pursuing postgraduate studies. Among undergraduate disciplines, Arts recorded the highest enrollment at 34.2%, followed by Science (14.8%), Commerce (13.3%), and Engineering and Technology (11.8%). At the postgraduate level, Social Science programs attracted the most students at 21.1%, followed by Science (14.7%).

Government universities accounted for 58.6% of total universities and contributed 73.7% of total enrollment, while private universities represented 26.3% of total enrollment.

The survey also provided insights into faculty demographics, reporting a total of 15.98 lakh faculty members in 2021-22, with 56.6% male and 43.4% female. The number of female faculty increased by 22% since 2014-15, reaching 6.94 lakh in 2021-22. Moreover, there was a slight improvement in the female-to-male faculty ratio, increasing from 75 in 2020-21 to 77 in 2021-22.

The AISHE, conducted by the Ministry of Education since 2011, gathers comprehensive data on higher education institutions across India, covering parameters such as student enrollment, faculty, and infrastructure.

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