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BENGALURU: Karnataka produces the second largest number of PhDs in the country — 5,020 PhDs were awarded in 2018, of which 1,821 were for women, says the HRD ministry’s All India Survey for Higher Education 2019.

Tamil Nadu tops the list with 5,844 PhDs, and Uttar Pradesh is third with 3,996. The total number of students awarded PhD-level degrees in India last year was 40,813 — 23,765 boys and 17,048 girls.

The other major PhD producers are Assam (3,676), Andhra Pradesh (2,615), Rajasthan (1,913) and West Bengal (1,898). In Tamil Nadu, Haryana , Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal, women outran men in securing PhDs.

The high number of doctorates in Karnataka doesn’t come as a surprise. The state has the third highest number of colleges, after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Bengaluru Urban has most colleges in India

The college density — number of colleges per lakh eligible population in the 18-23 age group — is 53 as against the national average of 28. Bangalore Urban district has the most colleges in the country at 880, followed by Jaipur with 566 colleges.

With research a key factor in improving their position in national and global rankings, universities have been pushing for research activities on campus. Some deemed universities have cut fee for foreign students to pursue PhD and increased their stipend.

IIIT-B director Prof S Sadagopan said, “Karnataka has a culture of promoting science — from the CV Raman days. Thanks to the promotion of arts, science and culture by

Mysore rulers, we have a culture of scholarships and valuing the importance of research. With the good foundation and a large number of private colleges and universities now, it’s not surprising Karnataka produces so many PhDs. We must watch for quality, though.”

Despite a large number of colleges, the gross enrollment ratio in Karnataka remains at 29, marginally higher than the national average of 26.3.

The ratio records the number of eligible students in an age bracket enrolling for a course. Tamil Nadu has enrollment ratio of 49. Kerala and Maharashtra have logged 37 and 32, respectively. Some of the states with better ratio are Sikkim (54), Delhi and Puducherry (46 each), Himachal Pradesh (40) and Uttarakhand (39).

