Inequality in Access to Higher Education in India between the Poor and the Rich An Analysis of 64th and 71st Rounds of NSSO Data (2007-08 and 2013-14)

This paper is an attempt to unravel some specific inter-related dimensions of inequality in participation in higher education by economic status of the households. The importance of examining the linkages between economic status and participation in higher education also lies with the fact that a substantial proportion of the increase in economic inequality is linked with the increase in the returns to education and low level of inter-generational mobility. More clearly, a vicious circle is clear: the barriers to access to higher education among low-income students widen the income inequality, which in turn widens the inequality in access to higher education. Given this, it is important to examine how far students from poor households are able to access higher education in India.The inequality in access to higher education—measured in terms of the gross enrolment ratio, gross attendance ratio, and rate of higher education attainment that is percentage of higher educated people in the total population—by economic status of the households in India is analysed in detail in the paper. Taking economic status as cross-cutting reference for all dimensions, gender and rural-urban differences are also analysed. Then we analyse inequality in household expenditure on higher education by these categories. Finally probability of attending higher education by various groups of population is estimated using logit regressions. The concluding section provides a summary of the major findings of the study along with some important policy implications