85% of higher edu colleges in T are private: AISHE report

Hyderabad: Nearly 85% of Telangana’s colleges are privately run, and so are nearly 85% of its students, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023-24 released by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday.Of the 1,780 colleges in Telangana that responded to the survey, 1,515 are private institutions and only 265 are govt-run. Of the 11,00,083 students enrolled in these colleges, 9,30,057 study in private institutions against 1,70,026 in govt ones.The numbers also place Telangana among the country’s better-performing states in higher education participation. The state’s Gross Enrolment Ratio stands at 46.6, well above the national average of 30, with 56 colleges per lakh population in the 18-23 age group.

Hyderabad alone has 465 colleges; neighbouring Ranga Reddy has 338.Srinivas Varma, a representative of the Telangana Schools and Technical Colleges Employees Association (TSTCEA) said the expansion began in the early 2000s, when a govt order in 2001 encouraged private investment to grow engineering and professional education, particularly in districts outside Hyderabad. Fee reimbursement schemes under subsequent govts accelerated the rush further, with hundreds of new colleges coming up within a few years.

“Engineering college fees that stood at ₹35,000 a year before Telangana’s formation have since climbed to over ₹2,05,000,” he told TOI, attributing the rise directly to the Telangana Fee Regulation Committee allowing periodic fee revisions every three years. “Private participation filled a gap at a time when demand for higher education was growing rapidly. But the state did not simultaneously invest enough in expanding govt institutions,” he added.The state’s budget allocation for education, he says, remains another matter of concern. A 2025 report titled ‘Higher Education in Telangana: Facts and Figures’, released by the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), had revealed that the state spends only about 2% of GDP on education, and Telangana has allocated under 15% of its budget to the sector. This is the lowest per capita education spend in the country though per capita GSDP is high.Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) chairperson Prof Balakista Reddy said private participation has become unavoidable, in Telangana and globally, as countries opened education to private investment.“Without private participation, Telangana could not have achieved this level of higher education expansion. Both public and private institutions are integral parts of the education system,” he told TOI.But he was clear that participation without oversight creates its own problems. “Private participation is required, but regulatory and supervisory mechanisms should also be strong. The govt’s role is to regulate unabatedly growing fees and look after other relevant issues. Where regulation is weak, problems relating to quality and affordability begin to emerge,” he said.He also stressed that public investment could not be abandoned simply because the private sector had stepped in. “Govts must continue to prioritise education. India’s demographic advantage can only be realised if we invest in quality higher education over the next two to three decades,” he said.