India enrolled 58,134 global students from 173 nations during the 2023-24 academic year, with overseas enrolment increasing 18.9% over the past 5 years, according to the most recent All India Study on College (AISHE).
Released by the Ministry of Education, the study shows global student enrolment increased from 48,898 in 2019/20 to 58,134 in 2023/24. Growth was recorded throughout both genders, with male enrolment rising from 32,386 to 37,295 and female enrolment increasing from 16,512 to 20,839 over the same period.
The figures come as India continues efforts to internationalise its college sector through the Research study in India effort, released in 2018, along with reforms under the National Education Policy 2020 aimed at reinforcing international partnerships, expanding cross-border partnership and motivating greater internationalisation across the sector.
“This is consistent however sluggish progress towards a finish line that has itself moved,” Rahul Choudaha, principal of DrEducation Research study, which specialises in international college research study and policy, informed The PIE News, keeping in mind that the federal government’s initial Research study in India effort had actually aimed to attract 200,000 worldwide students by 2023.
With simply over 58,100 overseas students taped in 2023/24– just around 3 in 10 of the government’s original target achieved– Choudaha said conference its aspirations would require faster visa processing, clearer post-study work paths and more powerful institutional reputations.
Despite drawing in students from a wide range of countries, India’s incoming student population stays concentrated amongst neighbouring and regional markets.
Nepal stayed the biggest source nation, representing 24.1% of all worldwide trainees registered in India. It was followed by the United Arab Emirates (7%), the United States (5.9%), Bangladesh (5.9%), Nigeria (5.5%) and Zimbabwe (4%), while the top 10 source countries together represented 63.8% of all global enrolment.
At the same time, the survey points to the diversity of India’s worldwide student population, with college institutions registering trainees from 173 countries, consisting of Lebanon, Burkina Faso, Mongolia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Chile.
In spite of the breadth of countries represented, Choudaha stated the figures did not always indicate India had actually ended up being a worldwide research study destination.
“With one in four foreign trainees originating from Nepal, India is plainly still mostly a local hub, not a worldwide one,” he stated.
“That’s not a bad grade or a bad position– it just shows India’s worth proposition: proximity, shared culture, and affordability, instead of worldwide education pull.”
Choudaha compared India with Malaysia, which hosts approximately 3 times as lots of worldwide trainees and benefits from a more fully grown global branch campus environment and stronger recruitment and support services.
Not just school facilities, but likewise the absence of versatile post-study work opportunities still remains a significant deterrent Eldho Mathews, KSHEC
Echoing the requirement for higher diversity, Eldho Mathews, program officer for internationalisation of college at the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), stated the current trends highlighted the importance of broadening India’s recruitment efforts beyond its conventional source markets.
“The trends clearly show that India must diversify its outreach beyond South Asia and parts of Africa, targeting Southeast Asia and Central Asia to attract more students,” stated Mathews. “Not just school facilities, however likewise the lack of flexible post-study work chances still remains a significant deterrent.”
Within India, Karnataka directly surpassed Punjab as the leading destination for international trainees, hosting 7,914 trainees compared with Punjab’s 7,902. Maharashtra (6,190), Uttar Pradesh (5,953) and Tamil Nadu (5,694) finished the top five host states.
Undergraduate programs continued to control worldwide enrolment, accounting for 73.6% of all overseas trainees, with 42,779 global trainees pursuing bachelor’s degrees.
A further 9,845 were registered in postgraduate programs, while comparatively smaller numbers studied at diploma, doctoral, certificate and integrated levels.
The global student data was released along with the larger AISHE 2023-24 survey, which taped a record 45 million trainees registered across India’s higher education system.
Although overseas enrolment has continued to grow, worldwide trainees still represent only around 0.13% of the country’s total higher education population, highlighting both the progress made and the scale of India’s ambitions to end up being a bigger destination for internationally mobile trainees.
The most recent release has, nevertheless, likewise prompted questions about the timeliness of the data. Although the study covers the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, the reports were published just in July 2026, leading some higher education professionals to argue that the hold-up restricts their usefulness for real-time policy planning.
Speaking with The Telegraph, former University Grants Commission (UGC) secretary R.K. Chauhan stated prompt AISHE data is important for decisions varying from broadening higher education organizations to improving access and faculty recruitment, while Vinoba Bhave University vice-chancellor C.B. Sharma argued that data released more than two years after collection is “not extremely relevant for planning plans”.
Looking ahead, Choudaha stated international branch schools could reinforce India’s appeal as a research study location gradually, although their effect was unlikely to be instant.
His remarks come as India continues to open its higher education sector to top-ranked abroad universities under UGC regulations, with dozens of worldwide university campuses now operational or introducing for the 2026/27 academic year.
“There’s genuine appeal in earning a British, American, or Australian degree in India at nearly two-thirds of the home-campus cost. But tuition fees at these worldwide campuses run nearly two times as high as at Tier-1 Indian universities,” specified Choudaha.
“Beyond charges, the environment around recruiting, supporting, and retaining worldwide students– visas, real estate, school life, word-of-mouth– takes years to develop, and these campuses are simply beginning. So the potential is genuine, however it’s a medium-term story: the runway exists, the plane hasn’t removed yet.”
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