<\/p>
India\u2019s higher education system is increasingly caught in an \u201cengineering cost trap\u201d, where the cost of acquiring a degree far outweighs the financial returns it delivers. According to the 1 Finance Global Economic Outlook 2026, a typical engineering education now costs around \u20b934.1 lakh, while the average starting salary stands at just \u20b94.74 lakh, highlighting a severe return-on-investment (ROI) mismatch.<\/p>
This widening gap reflects a broader trend of education inflation outpacing income growth. Families are routinely spending \u20b930\u201340 lakh on higher education, only to see graduates enter the workforce with modest salaries of \u20b94\u20136 lakh annually. In many cases, it can take over 20 years to recover these costs, making higher education an increasingly risky financial decision.<\/p>
Engineering and MBA degrees<\/strong><\/p> While engineering illustrates the problem most starkly, the issue extends to management education as well. The number of AICTE-approved MBA institutes has grown from 3,095 in 2021\u201322 to 3,465 in 2025\u201326, but job creation has failed to keep pace. As a result, placement outcomes are weakening, with several top B-schools reporting declines in average salaries, including a 15% drop at IIM Indore.<\/p> This oversupply of graduates without a corresponding rise in high-quality jobs is eroding the traditional premium associated with elite degrees.<\/p> MUST READ:\u00a0Why 15 lakh engineers aren\u2019t enough for India\u2019s AI economy<\/strong><\/p> Employability gap widens<\/strong><\/p> The employment challenge is becoming more acute. The report highlights that 83% of engineering graduates and 46% of B-school graduates in 2025 entered the job market without jobs or internships.<\/p> This points to a structural disconnect between academia and industry, where degrees are not translating into employable skills. Experts argue that the expansion of higher education has not been matched by improvements in curriculum relevance or placement infrastructure.<\/p> Skills trump degrees<\/strong><\/p> A key shift emerging from the data is the growing importance of specialisation over generalisation. Roles in artificial intelligence and data science offer 20\u201340% higher salaries compared to traditional IT jobs at similar experience levels.<\/p> In contrast, conventional IT roles continue to offer entry-level salaries of around \u20b95 lakh, with slower long-term growth. This divergence suggests that the value of a degree increasingly depends on the skills it enables, rather than the institution alone.<\/p> MUST READ:\u00a0Why India\u2019s GCCs are hiring fewer full-timers and more AI contractors<\/strong><\/p> Professional courses<\/strong><\/p> The ROI challenge is not limited to degree programmes. Even professional courses like chartered accountancy are facing a supply glut. The number of CA aspirants has doubled from 6 lakh in 2019 to 12 lakh in 2025, leading to intense competition and entry-level salaries of just \u20b93\u20135 lakh for many candidates.<\/p> DID YOU KNOW:\u00a0From AI specialists to creators: Top 3 fastest-growing roles you should know<\/strong><\/p> A structural reset<\/strong><\/p> The findings underscore a deeper structural issue\u2014rising costs, oversupply of graduates, and outdated curricula are collectively eroding the financial value of higher education. For families, this transforms education from a traditionally safe investment into a high-cost, uncertain bet.<\/p> Experts suggest a shift in mindset\u2014from focusing on brand-name institutions to prioritising market-relevant skills and career outcomes. Without such alignment, the promise of higher education as a pathway to financial stability may continue to weaken in the years ahead.<\/p> <\/div> education ROI India 2026, engineering degree cost vs salary India, MBA placement decline India, education inflation India crisis, unemployable graduates India report, AI vs traditional IT salary India, CA salary vs aspirants India, best career ROI India 2026, skills vs degree India jobs, 1 Finance Global Economic Outlook 2026#Engineering #cost #trap #lakh #degree #lakh #salary #Indias #ROI #crisis #deepens1777415736<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" India\u2019s higher education system is increasingly caught in an \u201cengineering cost trap\u201d, where the cost of acquiring a degree far outweighs the financial returns it delivers. According to the 1 Finance Global Economic Outlook 2026, a typical engineering education now costs around \u20b934.1 lakh, while the average starting salary stands at just \u20b94.74 lakh, highlighting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[27576,27572,27574,27573,3861,2151,7351,27577,27570,27567,259,27568,444,2052,27569,10587,3013,27575,3726,27571],"class_list":["post-7382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-marketing","tag-1-finance-global-economic-outlook-2026","tag-ai-vs-traditional-it-salary-india","tag-best-career-roi-india-2026","tag-ca-salary-vs-aspirants-india","tag-cost","tag-crisis","tag-deepens","tag-degree","tag-education-inflation-india-crisis","tag-education-roi-india-2026","tag-engineering","tag-engineering-degree-cost-vs-salary-india","tag-indias","tag-lakh","tag-mba-placement-decline-india","tag-roi","tag-salary","tag-skills-vs-degree-india-jobs","tag-trap","tag-unemployable-graduates-india-report"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}