Karnataka has third highest number of colleges in country; UP, Maharashtra top the chart: AISHE report

UP has the highest number of colleges in the country, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to the government's AISHE report 2021-22.

Published on: Jan 27, 2024, 08:54:17 IST

PTIPosted by Yamini C S

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Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of colleges in the country, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to the government's All India Survey for Higher Education 2021-22.

The AISHE survey was released by the Ministry of Education late night on Thursday.

The top 10 states in terms of number of colleges in India include Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana and West Bengal, each having at least 30 or more colleges per lakh population.

According to the survey report, in Uttar Pradesh, there are 8,375 colleges -- up from 8,114 colleges in the previous year -- and there are 30 colleges for every one lakh population.

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The states and Union Territories which have a high number of colleges per lakh population are -- Karnataka (66), Telangana (52), Andhra Pradesh (49), Himachal Pradesh (47), Puducherry (53) and Kerala (46).

"Maharashtra comes second with 4,692 colleges. Karnataka comes at the third position with 4,430 colleges whereas Rajasthan is at the fourth position with 3,934 colleges. Tamil Nadu comes at the fifth position with 2,829 colleges followed by Madhya Pradesh with 2,702 colleges,” the report said.

"Andhra Pradesh is at the seventh position with 2,602 colleges and at eighth position Gujarat has 2,395 colleges. Telangana is at the ninth spot with 2,083 colleges followed by West Bengal which has 1,514 colleges,” it added.

The Ministry of Education has been conducting AISHE since 2011, covering all higher educational institutions located in India and imparting higher education in the country.

The survey collects detailed information on different parameters such as student enrolment, teachers' data, infrastructural information, financial information, etc.

There are 45,473 colleges registered under AISHE belonging to the 328 universities (affiliating). Of these 42,825 responded in the survey year 2021-22.

The survey report pointed out that more than 60 per cent colleges are general in nature, 8.7 per cent colleges are specialised in education or teacher education, 6.1 per cent colleges are engineering and technology institutions, 4.3 per cent nursing colleges and 3.5 per cent medical colleges.

While 2.7 per cent colleges offer arts courses, 2.4 per cent are dedicated to pharmacy courses, 0.7 per cent science colleges and 1.4 per cent Sanskrit colleges.

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“Out of the 42,825 responding colleges, 14,197 colleges are offering PG programmes and 1,063 have PhD enrolments,” the report said.

Colleges per district are widely distributed across the country. As much as 10.7 per cent colleges out of total registered in AISHE are in the top 10 districts. The top 50 districts have 31.3 per cent of total colleges. Bengaluru Urban district has maximum colleges (1,106) followed by the Jaipur (703), Hyderabad (491), Pune (475), Prayagraj (398), Rangareddi (349), Bhopal (344), Ghazipur (333), Sikar (330) and Nagpur (326).

The total estimated enrolment in higher education institutions is 4,32,68,181 out of which 96,38,345 are in universities and their constituent units, 3,14,59,092 is in colleges, and 21,70,744 in Stand-Alone institutions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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