India Higher Education Report 2025

This book delves into how India's National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisions multidisciplinary higher education as a transformative approach to equip learners with diverse perspectives and skills to address complex global challenges. Tracing the evolution of multidisciplinary higher education from ancient centres of learning such as Takshashila and Nalanda to modern specialized institutions, it advocates for a return to holistic learning.

Unlike narrow disciplinary silos, multidisciplinary higher education integrates insights from diverse fields, blends methods and approaches to create innovative solutions, and transcends traditional boundaries to address real-world challenges. The book offers a comprehensive analysis of multidisciplinary higher education across five critical themes: foundational principles, global and local perspectives, governance and leadership, skill development and technology integration, and teacher professional development. Written by leading academicians, researchers, and policymakers, it combines theoretical frameworks with empirical evidence to demonstrate how multidisciplinary higher education institutions can drive innovation, enhance problem-solving capabilities, and strengthen India’s position in the global knowledge economy.

Essential for researchers, academics, and policymakers, this book serves as a roadmap for reimagining higher education to meet 21st-century challenges while honouring India’s rich educational heritage. It will be of interest to those working in education, public policy, the social sciences, the sociology of education, and higher education research.

Pradeep Kumar Misra is Professor and Director of the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE) at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in New Delhi, India. His research in teacher education, educational technology, and higher education has been recognized globally. He is a recipient of several prestigious fellowships, such as Fulbright, Commonwealth, DAAD, and Erasmus Mundus.

Garima Malik is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Finance at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi. She holds a PhD in Economics from The Ohio State University in the U.S.A. Her research focuses on governance, new managerialism in higher education institutions, and educational financing.