Efficiency measurement of higher education sector in India : evaluation with DEA

Abstract

This dissertation is the outcome of dual motivations: first, the growing interest of efficiency evaluation of the higher education sector in India, and second, to address the limitations of input importance variable weight of sub-units of DMUs in DEA. Higher Education in India is managed by the union government and state governments. Although, 43% of public expenditure on higher education comes from the central government, 90% of the total students in higher education are enrolled in HEIs managed/regulated by state governments. The role of the MHRD in India is limited to regulating central institutions, supervising and maintaining quality, providing financial support to state and private institutions through its autonomous agencies like UGC, AICTE, NAAC, etc. The Department of Higher Education in every state is responsible for policy formulation and implementation as per the guidelines provided by the MHRD or its agencies. State governments regulate universities, colleges, and institutions through various acts and agencies. Majority of the decisions with respect to the number of colleges to be set up, the location of colleges/universities, the number of teachers, the salary of staff, etc. in a state are taken by the state’s higher education department. After the introduction of the UGC’s regulation of Mandatory Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions and the establishment of the NIRF under the MHRD, the efficiency of HEIs is going to play a crucial role in funding existing institutions, ranking, attracting bright talent (students, faculty members, and staff), and setting up new institutions by the government. Therefore, the problem of efficiency evaluation has become central to the performance improvement of higher education sector in India. Enrollments in higher education is one of the key parameters used by policy makers. AISHE is an initiative by MHRD to collect enrollment data directly from primary sources, i.e. HEIs. Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan is an initiative by MHRD to drive enrollment in regions with low GER1 and CD2. It identifies educationally backward districts (in terms of GER and CD) and provides support for establishment of new colleges and for capacity expansion of existing colleges. AICTE’s guidelines for the closure of colleges are also based on enrollment. For example, less than 30% enrollment in five consecutive sessions qualifies for progressive closure, it means no further enrollment in concerned colleges. XII Five Year Plan (2012-13 to 2106-17) projected for increment in GER from 17.9 in 2011-12 to 25.2 in 2016-17. It is evident that policy makers in India make many important decisions such as fund allocation, new courses/HEIs openings, closure of HEIs, etc. based on the enrollment status in HEIs. Therefore, keeping the importance of enrollments in mind, in this dissertation, enrollment based efficiency is evaluated, i.e., an attempt has been made to investigate how effectively decision makers utilize their resources to generate enrollment.