India currently has around 40 million students in the higher education system, reflecting a gross enrollment ratio¹ of just 27%. As a point of comparison, the USA has an enrollment ratio of over 85%. Countries like Germany, France, and Canada already exhibit substantial enrollment rates well above 60%, and China has also recently surpassed the 60% GER mark.

With the introduction of the National Education Policy 2020, the Indian government has set an ambitious goal to increase this ratio to 50% by 2030. This goal requires doubling the number of students in the higher education system, necessitating significant enhancements in infrastructure, faculty, and resources. Alongside this policy goal, the rising aspirations of the Indian people, who see education as a means to break the poverty cycle and achieve upward social and economic mobility, will continue to push the demand for higher education.

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The new policy and subsequent reforms have relaxed many regulations, providing greater flexibility for students and institutions. These changes include:

1. Allowing institutions to source content from education providers, fostering innovation and up-to-date learning materials.

2. Enabling online degree programs to make education more accessible to remote and working students.

3. Introducing multiple entry and exit points in three- or four-year degree programs for undergraduate students, promoting flexibility and lifelong learning.

4. Increasing intake limits for select universities, expanding capacity to accommodate more students.

5. Permitting Indian and foreign higher education institutions to offer twinning programs, encouraging global exposure and standards.

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While these reforms will undoubtedly lead to capacity expansion, the true challenge lies in delivering quality education and ensuring students achieve their aspirations of building successful careers. Delivering student-centric education involves maintaining high academic standards and ensuring relevance to job market needs.

As published in our thesis on the higher education space, there is a tremendous opportunity to build in this multi-billion dollar industry. Companies can follow different operating models, either working in collaboration with the existing formal sector or creating a parallel system. Multiple companies can coexist and build successful businesses while catering to specific segments of students and delivering specialised career pathways. The vital point of our thesis is the focus on student outcomes, as models that centre around them will build trusted brands and sustain them over time.

Edept is a higher education company that helps students build careers in selected domains in Indian and international job markets. It carefully identifies suitable career areas that are growing and already face shortages in the skilled workforce. These areas include data science, business analytics, banking and financial services, newer fields like blockchain and cybersecurity, and the demand for Indian nurses in global markets. Edept then collaborates with key industry partners to design content and curricula most relevant to employability.

To cater to students in the existing formal sector, Edept partners with universities or colleges and helps launch new programs specializing in one or more identified themes. The company’s key focus is ensuring students acquire industry-relevant skills and knowledge for their degree programs. In this partnership model, Edept is responsible for student admissions, part of academic delivery, internships and placements, and overall student success. By the time students graduate, they have picked up skills that make them highly employable in the job market. 

Edept's platform approach of focusing on a few specializations and partnering with industry experts offers distinct advantages. This strategy allows the company to launch programs in multiple areas with a supply-demand gap, ensuring a wide array of job and career options for students in India and abroad. 

Edept's founding team brings extensive expertise in higher education and upskilling. Gaurv, an INSEAD alum, has over ten years of experience in the education sector. He was previously the CEO of Rise, a higher education platform, and served as the CBO at Leverage Edu, a leading company in the study abroad space. Puneet has strong business development experience in upskilling, which he gained through his work at Prytek. Devendra, an IIMB alum, brings several years of marketing experience and previously collaborated with Gaurv at Rise. The Edept team is exceptionally well-suited to lead in this domain, characterized by their unique approach to integrating industry partnerships and prioritizing student success.

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^{1 Gross Enrolment Ratio or GER, at higher education level, is the ratio of people enrolled in higher education to the population in the age group of 18-23.}