India is known for its long and venerable history in the field of higher education. In times of yore, the country was pioneer in education system and had become home to the oldest formal universities in the world. The most noticeable among these ancient universities were Takshila (now in Pakistan), Nalanda (in the modern state of Bihar) and Ujjaini (in modern Madhya Pradesh). These were famous in the prehistoric world and attracted students from all parts of India, Central Asia, China and South-east Asia. History of higher education in India had thus begun its journey quite with a bang, which had to encounter temporary obstacles in the form of outside invasion. It is significant that precisely at the same time, half-way across the globe, Oxford University was being established. The brand ‘Educated in India’ was strongly established during those days itself. However, the history of higher education in India witnessed stages of rapid expansion during the post-independence period. There was tremendous increase in the number of universities in the country, the number leapt from 25 in 1947 to 875 (approximately) as of 2020. The number of students enrolling for higher education has also raised from 0.1 million in 1947 to 3.74 crore students in the country.

Keywords: Education System, 'Educated in India', Brain Drain, Education Sector.