The number of students enrolled in higher education institutes in the country has increased, according to a government survey released on Friday.

According to the latest edition of the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education has gone up to 25.2% in 2016-17 from 24.5% in 2015-16.

GER is used to determine the total enrolment in undergraduate, postgraduate and research level studies within the country from the age group of 18-23.

The survey also said the overall increase in enrolment has gone up from 27.5 million in 2010-11 to 35.7 million in 2016.

Data on minorities was collected separately. According to the survey, enrolments among Muslims went up to 4.9% from 4.67% in 2015-16. The male student enrolments were higher among the Muslim students.

States in south India have a higher college density, which is defined as the number of colleges per lakh eligible population. The college density in the top three states is 49 in Puducherry, 59 in Telangana and 53 in Karnataka.

The number of universities in the country rose to 864 last year from 799 in 2015-16.

HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, while releasing the report, said the ratio of female to male students in higher learning has improved. To further improve it, he announced a supernumerary quota in the Indian Institutes of Techonology.