NEW DELHI: A central government backed survey bears out repeated reminders that Bihar has been neglecting higher education. The provisional data of the latest All India Survey of Higher Education reviewed by ET shows that the poll- bound state has the lowest college density in the country.As per the survey for 2013-14, conducted by the human resource development ministry, Bihar has just six colleges per lakh eligible people (aged 18-23) against the national average of 26. Bihar has the lowest college density, while even neighbouring Jharkhand fares slightly better with seven colleges per lakh eligible people and West Bengal with a college density of nine. Puducherry leads the table with a figure of 60.Bihar has been at the bottom of the national tally ever since the first survey was published for 2010- 11, when it had a college density of five and improved it to six in the subsequent years. At the same time, Bihar has 2,142 students enrolled in its 694 colleges on average, the highest in the country, indicating a severe demand-supply match. Jharkhand is second with average enrolment of 2,072.The top seven states in terms of highest number of colleges are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. UP tops the enrolment list as well, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.Bihar also has a lot of catching up to do, in terms of the total number of universities ranging from central varsities to deemed or private state universities. It has 21 universities, 14 of which are run by the state and seven by the Centre.The state does not have any private university, whereas Gujarat has 14, Haryana 12 and Himachal Pradesh 16 while Rajasthan heads the table with 29. Private education centres are, however, cropping up across Bihar.Further, Bihar has 47 pupils per teacher, second only to 50 in Jharkhand, while densely populated Uttar Pradesh has 32, Maharashtra 20, Gujarat, 26, West Bengal 35 and Odisha 18.The data shows that the state has much to do to catch up with its peers, let alone aspirations of its students.