The admission season in Kerala's colleges no longer resembles the confident academic cycles that campuses once enjoyed. Instead of selecting bright minds from the allotment pool as in the past, many colleges are now aggressively vying for students through social media campaigns, promotional reels, roadside flex boards, and digital advertisements to fill vacant seats. This shift reflects a deeper transformation in Kerala's higher education sector, where declining enrolment, migration of students, and changing career aspirations are reshaping conventional college education.
Declining Enrolment Statistics
Data furnished by the Directorate of Collegiate Education, in an RTI response to TOI, shows a 25% decrease in enrolment in government and aided colleges over the last five academic years, with a sudden slump since 2022-23. In the past five years, the state's higher education sector witnessed several structural reforms, including the introduction of the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUGP), but these appear to have hardly impacted the state's gross enrolment ratio (GER).
Data from individual universities also exposes the precarious situation. The number of students enrolled at Calicut University dipped to 88,358 in 2025-26 from 92,798 in 2021-22. Kannur University had 18,779 students in 2021-22 but only 15,618 joined in the just-concluded academic year. Sree Sankara University of Sanskrit admitted 1,232 students in 2021-22, but the number came down to 1,123 in 2025-26, while Mahatma Gandhi University departments saw a drop of over 16% in the last five years.
Unemployment and Underemployment
Unemployment and underemployment have become defining realities for many young graduates after college education. Miya George (21, name changed) said she spent months searching for a job after completing her bachelor's degree from a reputed college in Kochi before taking up a salesgirl's job at a clothing store. She has now secured admission at a university in Ireland, hoping that migration will provide her better career opportunities and financial security. "Opportunities related to my education were not there. I never really wanted to leave my family and the lifestyle here, but I feel migration is the only option left if I want a better future," said George.
Enrolment in higher education institutions (HEIs) dropped despite the government initiating policies to increase GER. The Shyam B Menon Commission for Reforms in Higher Education had suggested the state government improve GER by 60% by 2031. But with enrolments to colleges in Kerala declining, this appears to be a difficult goal to achieve. "We believe the outstanding foundation provided by the universalisation of school education can help Kerala raise its GER to 60% by 2031 and 75% by 2036. Moving from 60% to 75% in that time span will be difficult but not impossible. The state should set achieving 60% GER in 2031 as its proximate goal of public policy," the commission stated in its report.
Govt College Teachers Organization president Gladston Raj said government colleges are at serious risk of low enrolments. He noted that significantly less interest among students for higher education after completing Class XII is leading to the decline. "Aspirations of youth have changed; many stop traditional education by Class XII and opt for skill-oriented courses. This has affected enrolment for many courses," said Raj.
Demographic Change and Migration
Experts suggest that migration of students is primarily occurring within India, not to foreign countries, impacting enrolment numbers in the state. Demographic change, owing to migration to foreign countries, has also been a reason. Binoy Peter of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development said: "There is a demographic change causing a gradual decline in enrolments to schools and colleges, but the sudden shift is due to migration, primarily to states outside Kerala rather than abroad." Peter further said that most nationally acclaimed higher education institutions have seen increased enrolment of Malayali students. "Digital exposure has allowed students to learn more about courses in various universities. Academically bright candidates are opting for reputed institutions nationally to pursue their education. They settle for institutions in Kerala only when they fail to secure admission to such institutes," said Peter.
Families, experts say, are increasingly becoming nuclear, and their biggest investment is on education. Sending children abroad for education, mostly by availing loans, has significantly increased families' financial burden. Centre for Socio-Economic and Environment Studies director N Ajith Kumar said: "As bank loans are easily available, families generally mortgage their assets to get a loan for education, but more than half of the students who migrate abroad from the state are seeking employment prospects rather than quality education and end up in mediocre institutions abroad. This education doesn't provide the skill sets needed for employment within India, and families end up in a debt trap."
Rise in Open and Technical Education
Despite low GER in most higher educational institutions, there is a significant increase in enrolment for open education as well as technical education in the state. Enrolment at Sreenarayanaguru Open University increased tremendously from 5,408 students in 2022-23 to 31,183 in 2024-25. KTU, which admitted 32,586 students in 2021-22, saw 48,747 joining in 2025-26.
