Bangladesh tops in South Asia with highest postgraduate density

About 3.4 percent of the adult population in Bangladesh aged 25 and above hold postgraduate degree - a figure that has earned the country the top rank with the highest postgraduate density in South Asia, exceeding its peers.

This translates to 5.7 million post-graduate degree-holders in a country with a population exceeding 170 million. For a resource-constraint country where a large population still struggles to manage two square meals a day, this is a great achievement.

Education in Bangladesh is highly subsidised and it is largely free in public institutions. Students pay a very nominal monthly tuition fee for under-graduate and graduate studies in public colleges and universities. In private universities, tuition fee for a semester could cost between Tk40,000 to Tk60,000, or Tk80,000 to Tk120,000 per year that translates to US$640 to US$960 per year – quite cheap compared to many countries in the world. With an average tuition fee of US$750 per year, a student pays US$3,000 for the full undergraduate degree programme – which is lower than the cost of a semester in most other countries.

According to UNESCO World Education Statistics 2025, which spans a decade of research from 2015 to 2025, Bangladesh overtook Maldives and India - each recording 3.1 percent and 3.05 percent, respectively.

The 3.05 percent of 140 billion translates to 4.27 billion post-graduate population in India which means, in absolute number, India is far ahead not only in South Asia, but in the world.

UNESCO’s latest study reveals that the share of postgraduate degree holders in Bangladesh peaked at 4.3 percent in 2019 from 3.3 percent in 2015 and has maintained stability in the following years despite minor fluctuations.

A World Bank report found that the demand for high-skilled professionals for technical and managerial positions is driving the youth to pursue further education. However, the gap between employability and qualified professionals remains starkly unbridged.

Bangladesh is home to 171 universities, including 55 public universities and 116 private universities, where over a million students are studying. It is the third country in terms of the number of universities in South Asia after India and Pakistan. Due to its relatively affordable education, Bangladesh is attracting a substantial share of foreign students from neighbouring countries like India, Nepal, and Bhutan, as well as a growing African contingent that is largely absorbed by private institutions.

The number of universities increased exponentially over the last few decades. Private universities spawned due to intense competition for limited seats in public universities. They were first introduced between 1990-1995, until when only public universities operated across the country. The growth accelerated in the 2000s, with 37 institutions established between 2002 and 2007 alone.

An average of 100+ applicants compete for a single seat in public universities. Over a million students passed their high school exams in 2025, but only 64,000 secured the opportunity to study in public universities, where the cost of education is heavily subsidised. In this scenario, private universities offer a much-wanted relief to the significant proportion of students who want to pursue higher education.

However, experts have raised concern about the quality of education that falls below par in many institutions, emphasising the necessity to improve existing universities rather than establish new ones.

An article by The Business Standard deciphers the correlation between substandard education and unemployability among the youth. Inexperienced teachers or faculty shortage, insufficient funding, absence of research opportunities, and lack of governance in many private universities are found to hinder the production of employable graduates in the country, thereby festering joblessness in the country. As many as 16 institutions nationwide - seven public and nine private – do not have any professors or associate professors at all. Such institutions have earned the “certificate-churning mills” moniker, and they are often associated with an agenda that is neither economic or educational.

"The way the number of universities was increased did not follow the proper standards or the guidelines of the Higher Education Act. It was done to get a populist reaction. Those who could do the lobbying, they got universities. As a result, some universities do not have enough classrooms, teachers or infrastructures—yet they are operational," said Dr Manzoor Ahmed, Professor Emeritus at BRAC University, told the publication.

Both academicians and job experts reiterate the need to improve the quality of education offered at existing universities and transform them into career-oriented centres with strong employability training programmes, practical learning, research facilities, and proper supervision.