India’s higher education system has expanded significantly over the past decade, with the number of universities, colleges and students rising steadily. However, the growth in institutions has also exposed a persistent shortage of teaching staff, according to a recent SBI Research report.
The report, titled The State of Higher Education in India since 2014, highlights a significant gap between sanctioned and filled faculty positions in centrally funded higher education institutions.
Higher education institutions grow by 47%
According to the report, India had 1,289 universities, 48,246 colleges and 15,221 standalone institutions in FY24, taking the total number of higher education institutions to 64,756. The overall institutional base grew by about 47% over the decade.
Student enrolment has also increased considerably. Total higher education enrolment reached approximately 4.5 crore students in 2023-24, up from 3.42 crore in 2014-15.
Arts accounted for the largest share of enrolment at 32.1%, followed by Science at 13.5%, Engineering and Technology at 12.9% and Commerce at 12%.
One-third of sanctioned faculty posts vacant
The expansion in student numbers and institutions has not been matched by a corresponding increase in filled teaching positions at centrally funded institutions.
Citing data from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, SBI Research said 14,042 of 41,351 sanctioned teaching positions were vacant, resulting in a vacancy rate of around 34%.
Vacancies varied considerably across institutions. The report recorded a vacancy rate of:
- 54% in IIITs
- 39% in Central Universities
- 33% in IIMs
- 29% in NITs
- 7% in IISERs
The shortage was particularly pronounced at the professor level, where the report cited a vacancy rate of 56.2%.
Teaching workforce has also increased
Despite the vacancies, the overall number of teachers in India’s higher education system has grown. The teaching workforce increased from around 13.7 lakh in 2013-14 to 17.3 lakh in 2023-24.
Women’s representation among teachers also rose, reaching around 45% in FY24, compared with 39% a decade earlier.
The latest AISHE data similarly shows that women’s participation in higher education has increased substantially, with total enrolment reaching 4.5 crore in 2023-24.
Expansion needs to be matched by faculty and research capacity
The findings highlight a key challenge for India’s expanding higher education system: increasing the number of institutions and students also requires sufficient faculty, research infrastructure and funding.
While the expansion has widened access to higher education, persistent faculty vacancies could place additional pressure on teaching and research capacity, particularly at centrally funded institutions.
The SBI Research report, released on September 30, 2026, therefore points to the need for greater attention to faculty recruitment and institutional capacity as India’s higher education sector continues to grow.
