When we learn, quality surpasses quantity all the time. Hence, it is always important to 'learn better' than 'study more.' However, the Indian education sector is not an epitome of this philosophy of learning. Here, improving quantity in terms of number of student enrollments makes more sense to the administrators. According to the University Grants Commission, in 2016, India had 777 universities and over 35,539 colleges. In addition to that, the distance education system contributed a quarter of student enrollments in the higher education system, with over 29 million students enrolled in the higher education systems.

As a country with 619 million population falls in the 0-24-year age group, India offers enormous economic opportunities for the 'edupreneurs' who often ignore the fact that the highly promising demographic dividend of the country requires quality higher education and skill training. So, where are we heading? Each year, various global rankings of universities remind us that our higher educational institutions do not belong to the top and we have lot of catching up to do as a country that aspires to be a great power. Therefore, the need of the hour is a trade-off between quality and quantity. To design and develop our own technologies and prioritizes invention and innovation to move forward, we need to build a solid higher education base.

Amidst of all these turmoil, there are many institutions in the country that are working towards the desired quality marks and their result display the level of their progress. To celebrate this excellence, our panel of experts consisting of top HR Managers and Dignified Educationalists shortlisted the Top institutions in the Country across various domains such as Music, Management and Engineering to come up with 'College of the Year 2016.' With a true motive to provide the right insight to the student community and Indian Higher Education sector, Silicon India Education uncovers the top Colleges of the Year 2016 to enroll for. This issue also feature ICFAI University on the cover.
We hope this proves beneficial to you.