Archive · 3 Dec 2025
IIM Udaipur Study Reveals SC/ST/OBC Dominance in Higher Education
A new study from IIM Udaipur looked at who is going to college in India over the past 13 years.
They found that students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) now make up most of the students.
In 2010, these groups made up 43.1% of students, but by 2023, they made up 60.8%.
This means there are more SC/ST/OBC students than General Category students.
The study also found that SC/ST/OBC students are doing well in both government and private colleges.
The researchers say that now, the focus should be on making sure that the benefits of reservations reach those who really need them, not just the wealthier families within these groups.
SC/ST/OBC students now form the majority of higher education enrolment in India, rising from 43.1% in 2010–11 to 60.8% in 2022–23.
General Category students' share fell from 57% in 2011 to 39% in 2023, even including EWS students.
SC/ST/OBC students constitute 62.2% of enrolment in government institutions and 60% in private institutions.
The study suggests that the focus should now shift to ensuring that reservations benefit the most disadvantaged within these groups.
The research is based on 13 years of AISHE data covering 60,380 institutions and 43.8 million students.
- Who
- Researchers from IIM Udaipur's Centre for Development Policy and Management
- What
- A study on caste-wise enrolment patterns in Indian higher education
- When
- Data from 2010–11 to 2022–23
- Where
- India
- Why
- To analyze the social composition of students in higher education and challenge misconceptions about upper-caste dominance
- Study Conducted By
- Centre for Development Policy and Management (CDPM) at IIM Udaipur
- Data Source
- All-India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) data from 2010–11 to 2022–23
- Institutions Covered
- 60,380
- Students Covered
- 43.8 million
- SC/ST/OBC Enrolment Share in 2022–23
- 60.8%
- General Category Share in 2023
- 39%
- SC/ST/OBC Enrolment in Government Institutions
- 62.2%
- SC/ST/OBC Enrolment in Private Institutions
- 60%
