Higher education in Pakistan is the systematic process of students continuing their education beyond
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
, learned societies and two-year colleges. The governance of higher education is maintained under the Higher Education Commission (Pakistan) (HEC) which oversees the financial funding, research outputs and teaching quality in the country. In Pakistan, the higher education system includes the
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
,
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
and
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
universities accredited by the HEC. Since
independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
, new universities have expanded throughout the country with support provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which had been an autonomous institution of recognizing universities until 2002 when it was preceded by the Higher Education Commission. As of 2024, There are 262 universities providing higher education in Pakistan which produce about 445,000 graduates and 50,000 computer science graduates annually. Following public and private higher education institutions are active in the country:
Islamabad
Balochistan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Punjab
Sindh
Azad Kashmir
Gilgit-Baltistan
Gallery
File:NUST MainOffice.png, NUST main office
File:Punjab university Art & Design Dept 2.jpg,
University of the Punjab
The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...
, established in 1882 in Lahore, is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Pakistan.
File:Peshawar University Oval Eye View.jpg, University of Peshawar
File:Islamia College Peshawar 2.jpg,
Government College University, Lahore
The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university i ...
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (viewed from clock tower).jpg,
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology
The Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (; ; commonly referred as GIKI) is a private research university located in Topi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The institute has a campus that is located in the vicinity ...
Education in Pakistan
Education in Pakistan is overseen by the Federal Ministry of Education and the provincial governments, while the federal government mostly assists in curriculum development, accreditation and the financing of research and development. Artic ...
Pakistan Academy of Sciences
The Pakistan Academy of Sciences () (Abbreviations and Acronyms, abbreviated as: PAS), is a learned society of sciences, which described itself as "a repository of the highest scientific talent available in the country."
Established in 1953 in ...
Universities
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...