Policy Implementation: A Study of Higher Education in India Higher Education in India: Accessibility and Inclusion
Akanksha Anand, Ph.D. M.Phil MSW CIBE
Abstract
India is one of the third largest higher education systems in the world after the United States and China. It has been witnessing a healthy growth in its number of institutions and enrollment in the last few decades to nearly 22 million students in more than 46,000 institutions (Agarwal, 2006; University Grants Commissions, UGC, 2013; RAND, 2013). The Indian higher education comprises of 33,657 institutions, made up of 634 universities and 33,023 colleges; it is the largest higher education system in the world. Higher education indicators are measured by gross enrollment ratios of different countries (Trow,1973). India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 15 per cent with an increased focus on increased number of institutions and enrollment, India is still below the world’s average. With the systems rapid expansion there has been an increased concern of quality, quantity, infrastructure, institutional governance, public funding in higher education (Altbach, & Knight, 2007, UGC, 2013).