India’s higher education system in 6 charts

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India has 28.5 million students in its higher education sector—a collection of 642 universities, 34,908 colleges and 11,356 other institutions. Quartz India took a deeper dive into one of the world’s largest education systems, based on recent data from the government-conducted All India Survey on Higher Education. Six key takeaways from 2011-2012 data:

More undergraduate students pursue the arts more than any other degree.

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At the graduate level, Indian students are obsessed with management, despite having some of the world’s most selective business schools.

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Science, engineering and technology are the subjects of choice when it comes to Ph.Ds. 

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Men outnumber women in all higher education programs, except for the master of philosophy (so-called M.Phils). Also, there far more men teaching in the system compared to women. 

(Data on teachers is from the 2010-11 All India Survey on Higher Education)
(Data on teachers is from the 2010-11 All India Survey on Higher Education)

Southern India dominates the country in terms of total number of colleges, including both private and government run. 

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Iranian students, apart from those from the subcontinent, seem to have taken a liking to Indian higher education institutions.

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