Massification of higher education refers to increasing access to post-secondary education. The document discusses trends in massification globally and in countries like India and China. It notes that India aims to increase its gross enrollment ratio in higher education to 30% by 2020 but there are regional variations. Massification poses challenges like maintaining quality, access, and equity while expanding capacity and financing. It also discusses the implications for higher education sectors, including the growing private sector in India and issues of regulation and governance. Overall, the document analyzes key issues around increasing access to higher education on a large scale.

1. Massification of Higher
Education: Current Trends and
Future Directions
Anup K Singh, PhD

2. What is Massification of Higher Education
• Elite higher education
• Mass higher education
• Universal higher education
• The magical number of 20% GER
• India’s GER targets 30% by 2020; future trends
• Regional variations in GER in India
• India’s GER in different Five Year Programmes
• China’s current GER
• GER in BRICS countries
• Where are students enrolling?
• Should India aim for higher massification?

3. Why Massification of Higher Education
• Increase in Indian population
• Focus on school education; rich pipeline for higher education
• Expanding Indian economy
• Increasing demand for highly skilled manpower by the industry
• Absorption of Indian talent abroad
• International comparisons
• Encouragement of governments to open private institutions
• Competition among states to promote private higher education
• Rising aspirations of lower and middle class populace

4. Contd…
• What are the remedies?
• Greater role of central government
• Funding for research
• Open and distance education
• Each state should have a research university
• Acceptance of educational pyramid
• Policy clarity on private higher education
• Provision of operations of for profit institutions
• Regulations of higher education
• 10% universities need not be regulated but monitored
• Others need to be meticulously regulated
• Financial relation
• Quality regulation, including outcome regulation
• Admission regulation
• Encouraging domestic and global competition
• Greater involvement of industry

5. Policy Implications of Massification
• Comparison of GER with other countries, like China, Brazil, etc.
• Enhancing quality, access and equity: the trilemma problem
• Financing of higher education
• Increasing GDP: higher education ratio
• Regulation of the emerging private higher education sector
• Enhancing quality and equity in the private higher education sector
• Minimising regional disparities in GER
• Stratification and structuring of a large number of institutions
• Developing research and teaching framework for accreditation
• Promotion of life long learning of Indian citizens

6. Sectoral Implications of Massification
• Massive expansion of the higher education sector as a whole; heating up of the system
• Main expansion in the private higher education sector
• Most private higher education sector institutions covertly work for profit that conflicts with
the constitutional provisions
• The truly non-for profit higher education sector largely ignored by the governments
• Lack of mechanisms to resolve student and faculty grievances
• UGC and AITCE have done an average job of coordination and promotion of higher
education
• Lack of coordination among professional councils, resulting in ambiguity and conflict
• Need for reforms at state higher education level

7. Financial Implications of Massification
• Financial implications for supply side as well as demand side
• Reducing expenditure on higher education by governments (Few new institutions,
curtailing faculty positions, temporary lecturers, cutting of maintenance expenditure,
low research budget, etc.)
• Limited support from philanthropists
• Eagerness of private sector to participate in higher education but for profit purpose
• Increase in education credit by banks
• Increased cost sharing by certain government institutions
• Wide variations among states for financial models for higher education
• What will be education credit system for disadvantaged groups?
• Who decides fees: the state or the market
• With limited philanthropic contribution to higher education, what are the other sources
of revenue for HEIs?

8. Academic Implications of Massification
• Quality of education differs widely across different institutions
• Students also differ in their academic competence, aptitude, motivation, engagement
and expectations
• Sudden surge in demand for teachers, resulting in uneven quality of teaching
• Focus on employability and employment, less on knowledge and citizenship
• Ignorance of subjects that have less market attractiveness
• Inability of accreditation system to cope with the burgeoning demand
• Poor lab, library and learning space facilities
• Lack of exposure to emerging trends and technologies in the design, development and
delivery of higher education offerings

9. Emergence of Private Higher Education Sector
• Three types of private HEIs: aided institutions, truly non-for-profit institutions and covertly
for profit institutions
• Resource constraints of the state sector
• Opening up of private higher education sector
• Focus of private higher education on disciplines that are in demand by employers and
students
• Most private HEIs are young and fledging
• Ambiguous approach of the government towards the private higher education sector
• Control through admission and fees regulatory committees
• Often State governments also interfere in the functioning of private HEIs
• Little focus on research by the private HEIs
• Use of managerialism in the administration of private HEIs
• Thin line between governance and management of private HEIs
• Family managed institutions
• Reluctance of government to recognise diversity among private HEIs, thus ignoring the need
for varied control

10. Globalisation of higher education
• Higher education has been a cross-country enterprise/phenomenon
• Higher education powerhouses, such as US, UK, AU, NL, and CA have excess capacity
both infrastructure and manpower. They are major providers of higher education
• Dearth of funds led to attracting foreign students who pay high fees
• Two categories of students: meritorious and mediocre
• They also provide employment to many foreign students
• Consuming countries, China, India, South Korea and South Africa
• GATS and TRIPS
• India as a poor provider of higher education to foreign students
• Drain of huge foreign exchange towards foreign studies
• Huge demand at home has no incentives for most HEIs
• Lack of any global university in India

11. Diarchy of education in India
• Education was initially a state subject (British ploy)
• Now it is in the concurrent list
• UGC as the coordinator and grant provider to state HEIs and private aided
HEIs
• Lack of robust policies both from central government and state
governments
• Political influence on state HEIs
• Frequent intervention of the Supreme Court due to lack of policies
• Interplay of central, state and private HEIs
• Lack of innovation in national higher education system

12. Conclusion
• National educational system
• India as a knowledge society that competes and contributes worldwide
• Knowledge ecosystem and University as a knowledge enterprise
• Need for research universities
• State governments have to be proactive and innovative; each state must
promote one research university
• Developing models for educational credit
• Role of professional councils
• Regulation, not government control
• Excellence, equity and access should be distributed across institutions not
at the same institution