More students, more colleges, too few teachers: Inside India’s higher education crisis

India’s higher education expansion looks impressive on paper: more students, more colleges, more seats. But behind the growth story sits a stubborn faculty shortage that exposes a deeper fault line. Recruitment delays, state-level bottlenecks, contractual hiring and weak academic infrastructure are leaving classrooms overcrowded and teachers stretched, raising a sharper question: Is access expanding faster than education itself?