ABSTRACT
India, in 2015, has the world's second-largest higher education system in terms of student numbers, having recently overtaken the United States in enrolments, with 20 million students enrolled in post-secondary education, attending more than 35,500 colleges and 574 universities. When compared to most developing countries, India has had a longer history of modern higher education. At the time of Independence, the language of instruction in higher education throughout India was almost exclusively English. Indian higher education has interacted gingerly with the rest of the world. Indian higher education can be characterised by a sea of mediocrity, in which some islands of excellence can be found. The location of universities is sometimes influenced by state or local politics. As in many countries, massification has contributed to the rise of the private sector in higher education. It has been estimated that China and India will account for more than half of the world's enrolment growth by 2050.
