Infographic on higher education enrolment and INdian students going abroad

The Great Indian Brain Drain: 1.33 million Indian students studying abroad

From 2023-24, 41% more Indian students sought to study abroad.

This is in spite of many private universities being available in India.

According to AISHE (All India Survey on Higher Education), India has 1,284 universities, 50,577 colleges, and 158 Institutes of National Importance.

Source: https://dashboard.aishe.gov.in/hedirectory/#/institutionDirectory

According to the AISHE report 2022, 4.33 crore students were enrolled in India. The number of students going out in that year is 7.5 lakhs. This means about 2% of students studied abroad.

There is no AISHE report after 2022, so we do not have data of college enrolments in 2023 and 2024. However, growth in enrolment in India was 4.6% from 2021 to 2022. However, the percentage growth in numbers going outside India is in double digits and increasing every year.

Therefore, the share of students choosing to study outside India is increasing significantly each year.

65% of the colleges in India in 2022 were private unaided.

472 universities in India were private – deemed and recognised.

No data is available on unfilled seats in higher education in India.

India had 46,878 foreign students enrolled in 2022. 74% of these were for undergraduate studies and 28% of them were from a single country – Nepal.

Question for you: If you are a high schooler, would you prefer to study in India or abroad? Do share your reasons also.