Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol 3, No 2, 2012 17 Higher Education in India: Structure, Statistics and Challenges Deepti Gupta 1* Navneet Gupta 2 1. 462/4, Mandir Marg, BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan, India 2. Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan, India * E-mail of the corresponding author: deepti.g.bits@gmail.com Abstract India’s education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to the economic rise of India. The size of India’s higher education market is about $40 billion per year. Presently about 12.4 percent of students go for higher education from the country. If India were to increase that figure of 12.4% to 30%, then it would need another 800 to one thousand universities and over 40,000 colleges in the next 10 years. This paper presents the development and present scenario of higher education in India by analyzing the various data and also identifies the key challenges that India’s higher education sector is facing. This paper also presents the key initiatives by the government and recommendations to meet these challenges. The ideas presented in this paper were initially presented at the International conference on India Emerging, held at IBA, Greater Noida, India, Feb 24-25, 2011. Keywords: Higher Education, Knowledge Economy, Technical Education, University 1. Introduction In order to promote economic and industrial development in a country, the essential requirement is the capacity to develop skilled manpower of good quality in adequate number. According to population projections [1] based on the 2001 Census figures, in 2011 nearly 144 million of India’s population will be between the age-group 18 to 23-the target age group for Higher Education. At the beginning of India’s independence, there were 20 universities and 591 colleges while students enrollment at the tertiary level of education was 0.2 million. After independence, the growth has been very impressive. India now possesses a highly developed higher education system that offers facility of education and training in almost all aspects of human creation and intellectual endeavors. India’s higher education system is the third largest in the world after China and United States in terms of enrolment. However, in terms of the number of institutions, India is the largest higher education system in the world with 26455 institutions (504 universities and 25951 colleges). This means that the average number of students per educational institutions in India is lower than that in the US and China. The education commission [2] set up in 1964 under the chairmanship of Dr. D.S.Kothari (Kothari Commission) had recommended that government should spend at least 6% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on education. However, in over 45 years, we have been able to achieve only half the target. The Knowledge Commission additionally recommends an increase of at least 1.5% of GDP for higher education out of a total of at least 6% of GDP for education overall. 2. Knowledge Economy Knowledge is the driving force in the rapidly changing globalized economy and society. Education general and higher education in particular, is a highly nation-specific activity, determined by national culture and priorities. The emergence of India as a knowledge-based service driven economy has made its human capital its major strength and opportunity for growth. Unlike China or other Asian economic giants, India’s growth has not been led by manufacturing. Instead, the nation’s pool of skilled workers has allowed India to move quickly up the economic value chain in several knowledge based industries. According to a report [3] by ICRIER, New Delhi, India is home to the world’s largest pool of scientific and knowledge workers