Hemant Sahal, Founder & CEO, CollPoll

The lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic gave higher education institutions the opportunity to make rapid progress towards digitisation. Higher Education Institutions were brought to the crux of a remarkable digital shift, and the rapid evolution of the digital world has since impacted the education sector significantly. From increased adoption of technology to easily accessible online education and flexible degree programmes, the year 2022 had a profound effect on the education industry. By leveraging technology, the industry is expected to flourish in 2023. Let’s delve more into it:

Full-fledged Online Degree Programmes Across The Country

The University Grants Commission (UGC) approved full-fledged online degree programmes in 38 universities across India thereby providing students with a wide range of educational opportunities. Furthermore, the decision aligns with the goals of the National Educational Policy, NEP 2020, which focuses on online education.

UGC is going to allow almost 900 autonomous colleges to offer online degree programmes in the near future.

Boost in Admissions & Enrollment

The 2022-2023 admission cycle witnessed higher enrollment of students in higher education institutions. The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) further aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) to 50 per cent by 2035 in the higher education sector by restructuring the curriculum and pedagogy and reforming the assessments. Thus, ensuring a higher degree of participation in the institutions. This year’s admissions went great, and we expect to see even more significant growth next year.

Diversity in Undergraduate & Postgraduate Courses

Institutions moved towards diversification and offered more varied programmes to enhance learning and growth in an array of fields. UGC announced a list of new undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) degree courses and also released a notice on revised course duration for some programmes. From Liberal Arts to Fashion and Media Communications, a number of courses have been added to various streams. The multidisciplinary approach of institutions is expected to empower students to decide their career choices wisely.

Flexible Learning Pathways

As a result of NEP 2020, higher education space is becoming more flexible, with students being able to choose their own academic journey rather than conforming to the set standards. Multiple entry and exit points and progression routes between educational institutions, courses, and levels bring many benefits to individuals and society, particularly in terms of equity, employability, and resource efficiency.

Beyond Transactional Operations

As a result of the education industry’s growth and development, student experience has taken precedence over transactional operations. Institutions are focused on enhancing the student experience through on-campus safety, mental well-being, grievance redressal, and other services.

Higher Adoption of Technology

Higher education institutions have seen the benefits of adopting technology – from more efficient and streamlined communication to an enlightened approach towards blended teaching and learning – the industry embraced technology in the most progressive manner. The ease of operations and opportunity to manage entire academic and non-academic activities on a single online platform has enhanced student engagement, reduced the workload on teaching and non-teaching staff and improved the overall user experience. 

Global enrolment in higher education has more than doubled in the last two decades. As a result of a massive influx of new learners into higher education, the number and variety of higher education institutions and study programs have increased significantly.

As technology has become more widely adopted in higher education institutions, the institutions have experienced rapid growth. With a flexible learning curriculum and better student experience, these trends are expected to rise in the near future!