'99% of private colleges...': Financial advisor slams poor placement rates as India's education-to-job gap widens

India’s higher education system, despite being among the largest globally, faces a widening gap between soaring tuition costs and diminishing outcomes. Many private educational institutions especially those offering engineering, management and medical degrees charge hefty fees but often fail to deliver on placement promises.

Outside of elite institutions like the IITs and IIMs, graduates often find themselves burdened with expensive degrees and few job prospects. As concerns mount over the quality, relevance, and accessibility of higher education, voices within the ecosystem are calling out the cracks with growing urgency.

Akshat Shrivastava, a financial advisor and CEO of The Wisdom Hatch Fund, sharply criticised the state of private education in India, claiming that “99% of private colleges in India are a scam.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Shrivastava wrote, “99% of private colleges in India are a scam. The average placement rate in private colleges: (1) 2021-2022: 60-80%, (2) 2023-2024: 20-40%.”

He added, “Despite this:

• These colleges advertise high 'CTC' (which is scam to begin with).
• Keep increasing their fees.
• And, keep pushing people to take more debt.”

“They create an ecosystem: where most teachers don't know how to teach, most students don't even want to attend college. And, yet the management keeps minting money. As the world moves towards rewarding skilled based outcomes. This model has no place,” Shrivastava said.

His remarks resonated widely online. 

“Agree to a good extent. Industry-education mismatch: Skills taught lag behind market needs. Students pursue degrees for credentials, not passion. Fix requires: Updated curricula for real-world skills, more practical training, career guidance for purpose-driven choices,” a user replied.

Another user commented, “Nowadays there is a system of organising courses of doing diploma in digital marketing/AI/DATA ANALYTICS for 6 month and get guarantee job CTC of 6-10 lakhs this all fall in scam.”