New Delhi: The All-India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20 revealed that the college density (colleges per one lakh eligible population in the age group of 18-23 years) in Odisha is 24, which is lower than the all-India average of 30.
According to the survey, Karnataka tops the chart with maximum 59 colleges per one lakh population while Bihar was placed at the bottom with a density of seven.
Odisha has a total of 1,087 colleges as per the survey and it was placed below 20 among 39 states and Union territories in terms of college density survey.
The average enrolment per college in Odisha is 659. As many as 4.40 lakh students are enrolled in private colleges while 2.68 lakh students are enrolled in government colleges in the state. Similarly, 0.92 lakh of students in Odisha are enrolled in polytechnics.
Significantly, female students have outnumbered male students in M Phill and postgraduate courses. There are 584 females as compared to 419 male students in M Phill and 50,717 females as compared to 47,838 male students at the postgraduate level. In total, 5.29 lakh male and 4.65 lakh female students are enrolled at various levels in the state.
Odisha has a total of 32 universities comprising 16 state public universities, six private universities, five institutes of national importance, three deemed universities (private), one central university and one state open university.
The survey states that there are 1,043 universities in the country, out of which 396 universities are privately managed and 420 universities are located in rural areas. There are 17 universities exclusively for women across the country including one in Odisha.
Odisha also has two dual mode universities, which provide education through both regular and distance mode.
