The Higher Education sector in India is booming. The number of colleges touched the 25,000 mark last year. Within the last few years, 8 new IITs, 6 IIMs, 20 NITs, and 3 IISERs have been opened. After the Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010 was enacted in the Indian parliament, both Indian and foreign institutions are excited about the potential the Indian higher education sector presents.

Recently,the Human Resource Development Ministry announced its plan to conduct a nationwide survey covering all the higher education institutes in the country. The motive behind this huge exercise is to account for the number of programs and levels of programs being run all over the country. Ministry officials are hopeful to get a clearer picture of higher education and thereby formulate favorable policies. The survey result will also provide a platform to build a governance model for public and private institutes as well as foreign institutes.

The survey will serve two important purposes: One, it will help predict trends in higher education, and two, it will list the issues that are affecting the sector. The UGC has also asked affiliated universities to coordinate with the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) to help collect the needed data.