A large youth population eligible for higher education coupled with the fact of low enrolment ratio offers a growth potential for Indian higher education system. While India has one of the world’s largest higher education system, the gross enrolment ratio is still low at 24.5%. There are more than 33,900 colleges in India but, at 799, still a smaller number of universities. With more states opening up the sector for private universities and providing clear objective guidelines to establish new universities, the Indian higher education system has flourished in recent years. However, there is still a long way to go before the Indian HE system is mature and competitive globally.
The multi-layered, multi-party education regulatory structure in India is one of the hindrances to limit the attraction of the sector. To say that the regulatory is a complex network would be an understatement. For instance, in addition to the state government, there are over 18 professional councils that lay rules and regulations in the higher education system, making it one of the most closely regulated and complex systems in the world.
The existing and aspiring players in the sector need to explore opportunities and create sound plan against threats. Paradigm’s wide range of strategic planning services and capabilities help the existing players and new entrants in Indian higher education develop long-term plans and scenario-based strategies to help meet all regulatory hurdles while maintaining high growth rate. Paradigm team has extensive experience helping organizations address all the key aspects of strategic planning for ventures in Education.