Of the total number of students enrolled in higher education in Karnataka, Dakshina Kannada’s share stood at 6% and Udupi district’s at 2.44%, according to the Union government.
Quoting the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023-24 by the Union Ministry of Education, Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the total number of students enrolled in higher education in Karnataka was 27,59,933.
Of this, enrolment at 320 higher education institutions in Dakshina Kannada stood at 1,70,293 (6%), while at 108 higher education institutions in Udupi district it was 67,515 (2.44%). Enrolment was 18,157 (0.65%) at 51 higher education institutions in Chikkamagaluru district.
According to AISHE, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for India in 2023-24 was 30 and 41.9 for Karnataka, the Minister said.
He was replying to an unstarred question by Rajya Sabha MP D. Veerendra Heggade.
The AISHE report is based on the voluntary data submission by higher education institutions (HEIs) registered with the survey through the Web Data Capture Format portal on aishe.gov.in.
According to AISHE, the responsibility for the accuracy of the data rests with the nodal officers of the concerned HEIs.
Mr. Majumdar said the Union Budget 2026-27 has announced the setting up of five university townships in the vicinity of major industrial and logistic corridors and one girls’ hostel in every district through viability gap funding/capital support to encourage enrolment of girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) institutes/courses.
The National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) bridges the gap between academic learning and industry requirements by providing structured on-the-job training to graduates and diploma holders. The scheme promotes industry-integrated education through Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programmes (AEDP), supports apprenticeships in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and facilitates academic credit integration through the NATS Assessment and Creditisation Framework, the Minister said.
The UGC has issued ‘Guidelines for Internship/Research Internship for Undergraduate Students’ with the aim of improving employability and understanding of the world of work.
The UGC is also working to enable universities to adopt skill-based courses and microcredentials as part of their curriculum, the Minister said.
Published - July 23, 2026 06:48 pm IST