Higher education in India

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India has a publicly funded higher education system that is the third largest in the world.^[1] The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission, which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the center and the state.^[2] Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 15 autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission (UGC).^[3] Apart from these institutions, there are several parallel, state, and nationally accredited bodies that provide professional and vocational educational programs like the National Skill Development Corporation, Gramin Skill Development Mission, the Himayat, Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence, the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, etc.

As of 2020^[update], India has over 1000 universities, with a break up of 54 central universities, 416 state universities, 125 deemed universities, 361 state private universities and 159 Institutes of National Importance which include AIIMS, IIMs, IIITs, IISERs, IITs and NITs among others.^{[4][2][5][6][7][8][9]} Other institutions include 52,627 colleges as government degree colleges, private colleges, standalone institutes and post-graduate research institutions, functioning under these universities as reported by the MHRD in 2020.^[10] Distance learning and open education are also features of the Indian higher education system and are overseen by the Distance Education Council.^[11] Colleges may be Autonomous, i.e. empowered to examine their own degrees, up to PhD level in some cases, or non-autonomous, in which case their examinations are under the supervision of the university to which they are affiliated; in either case, however, degrees are awarded in the name of the university rather than the college. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is the oldest distance education university in the country, transitioning from correspondence to online delivery of education, and has the largest number of student enrollments.^[12]

India is one of the countries that have historical evidence of systemic education dating back centuries in the world, though it has suffered destruction, manipulation, and reconstruction multiple times under the attack of foreign powers, power-hungry regimes, and colonization. Despite the aftereffects of it, it is one of the agile systems that has shown capability of continuously innovating through nation-building and transformative programs like National Education Policy 2020 due to the self-expanding values and socio-cultural flexibility.