AISHE: All India Survey on Higher Education, AISHE Code and Portal Guide

AISHE is the All India Survey on Higher Education, an annual web-based survey run by the Ministry of Education of India; an AISHE code is the unique code an institution receives when it is registered on the AISHE portal. The code identifies the institution, not any individual researcher, and other national schemes use it as a gate: the ONOS journal-access scheme, for example, states that an institution’s AISHE code is mandatory for registration. This guide walks through the portal’s own labels, the three institution categories, the registration and tracking steps in the official guidelines, and where AISHE sits among research identifiers. It was checked against aishe.gov.in on 2026-10-29.

What is AISHE?

AISHE stands for All India Survey on Higher Education. According to the portal, it is an annual web-based survey that has run since 2010-11, covering teachers, student enrolment, programmes, examination results, education finance and infrastructure. The portal states that the data are used to compute indicators such as the Gross Enrolment Ratio, the Gender Parity Index and Per Student Expenditure.

• Operator: Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education (the Statistics Division owns the content).
• Portal: aishe.gov.in, developed and hosted by the National Informatics Centre.
• Country: India.

What is an AISHE code?

The AISHE code is the unique institution code issued after successful registration. The official guidelines for colleges and standalone institutions say that on registration the institution “will be provided with a unique AISHE code”, and that one institute gets only one AISHE code. If the institution is already registered but you need the code, the portal’s login section has a Know your AISHE Code option.

The code is an institutional identifier. It does not identify authors or researchers, so it is a different layer from persistent identifiers such as ORCID, ROR and ARK. The same institution can carry an AISHE code in Indian administrative systems and a ROR record in research-information systems; the two are separate registries (see ROR and identifier crosswalk), and connecting them is a mapping your own system maintains.

Where the code is requested elsewhere

The ONOS (One Nation One Subscription) site states that “Institution AISHE Code is mandatory for registration” and that eligible institutions are government higher education institutions and central government R&D institutions (onos.gov.in/how-to-join, read 2026-08-26). If your library is joining ONOS, getting the AISHE registration right comes first; see our guides to ONOS login and institutional access and e-ShodhSindhu and its relationship to ONOS.

Who needs to register, and in which category?

The portal’s directory and forms use three institution categories: University, College, and Standalone Institution. The official guidelines define the choice for the second two: select College if the institute is affiliated to a university, otherwise select Standalone. Separate guidelines cover universities and nodal officer registration.

Category	Blank data capture form (2024-25 on the portal)	Instruction manual
University	DCF-I	Instruction Manual – University Web DCF
College	DCF-II	Instruction Manual – College + Standalone Web DCF
Standalone Institution	DCF-III	Instruction Manual – College + Standalone Web DCF

The forms and manuals are listed at aishe.gov.in/web-dcf. The page also carries a “Major points to note while filling up Web DCF” document.

AISHE portal: the labels you will see

The home page has a login panel with these exact options: Login, Create New Login Credentials, Request for Adding Institution, Track your request ID and Know your AISHE Code. The top menu runs Home, About, Survey (About Survey, Survey Guidelines, Roles/Responsibilities of Nodal Officers, Doubts and Clarifications), Directory of Institutions (University, College, Standalone Institution), Reports (AISHE Final Report, AISHE Meta Data, Other Reports), State/UT Nodal Officers, Contact us, Login and Media Corner. The home page also carries the current registration notice; check the official site for whether registration is open for the survey year you need.

How to register a college or standalone institution

These steps follow the “Guidelines for addition of College/Standalone Institution on AISHE portal” (Statistics Division, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education; page last updated 28.02.2024). The Institute Nodal Officer sends the request to the Ministry through the portal.

1. Open the AISHE home page and click the link for Request For Adding Institute on Aishe Portal.
2. Part I: choose the institution category (College or Standalone), then the State/UT, the district and the institute name. The name goes in capital letters as it appears on the document issued by the affiliating university (colleges) or the affiliating council or Gazette notification (standalone institutions). If several same-named institutes under one university share a state and district, add a tehsil or sub-division name to avoid rejection.
3. Click Next. If the institute is new to the portal, the form continues; otherwise you see the message “Institute already exists on AISHE portal”.
4. Part II, Section 1: nodal officer profile. The email address and mobile number are verified by one-time password (OTP).
5. Section 2: details of the head of the institution (Principal or Director); email and mobile are OTP-verified as well.
6. Section 3: institution details, including rural or urban location, college type or body type, management type, affiliating university, the year admissions started, and an uploaded proof of existence in PDF format.
7. Section 4: postal address for correspondence, the image verification code and the undertaking checkbox, then submit. The portal returns a Request ID; save it.

What counts as proof of existence

For colleges, the university affiliation letter for the ongoing survey year, referring to the courses of the current academic year. For standalone institutions the guidelines name the recognising body by type:

• Paramedical: the Paramedical Council, State Paramedical Council or State Medical Board.
• Technical or polytechnic: AICTE or the State Directorate of Technical Education.
• Nursing: the Indian Nursing Council or State Nursing Council.
• Teacher training: NCTE or SCERT.
• Institutes under Ministries (mainly diploma or PG diploma, directly administered by a central Ministry): the Gazette notification showing the institution is under the Ministry.
• Hotel management and catering: the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology.
• PGDM institutes: AICTE.

Tracking a request and resolving “Institute already exists”

To track a request, click Track Your Request Id on the home page, enter the Request ID and submit. You see the current status and the details of your approving authority. The guidelines list what to do when the “already exists” message appears:

• A similar application is pending: track it with the Request ID and contact the approving authority for approval.
• A similar institute already has an Active AISHE code: do not register again; one institute gets one code.
• The code is In-Active (standalone) or the college is De-affiliated: for de-affiliated colleges contact the State or University Nodal Officer (SNO/UNO); for inactive standalone institutions contact the Ministry of Education for activation.

AISHE reports and how they are used

The Reports menu lists the AISHE Final Report (the 2023-24 and 2022-23 editions are posted in Excel and PDF), the AISHE Meta Data, other reports, and time series for the Gender Parity Index and Gross Enrolment Ratio. When you cite figures, cite the report edition and the aishe.gov.in page you downloaded it from, with the access date, rather than a secondary summary.

Common problems

• Name mismatch: the institute name must follow the affiliating document; duplicate names are the case the guidelines address with tehsil or sub-division additions.
• Applying twice: if a similar institute already holds an Active code, a second application is not the route.
• Wrong category: affiliated to a university means College; otherwise Standalone.
• Stale affiliation proof: the affiliation letter should match the ongoing survey year.
• Who to contact: the portal lists the helpdesk at [email protected] (011-26162935) for Request ID and Web DCF queries, and [email protected] for technical support, on working days.

FAQ

What is AISHE?

The All India Survey on Higher Education, an annual web-based survey of Indian higher education institutions run by the Ministry of Education since 2010-11.

What is the AISHE full form?

All India Survey on Higher Education.

What is an AISHE code?

The unique code given to an institution on successful registration on the AISHE portal. One institute gets one code.

How do I find my AISHE code?

Use the Know your AISHE Code option on the portal home page.

Where is the AISHE report?

Under Reports on aishe.gov.in: the AISHE Final Report, AISHE Meta Data and other reports.

Is the AISHE code an ORCID or Scopus ID?

No. It identifies an institution in the Indian survey and related schemes; ORCID identifies a person.

Sources

• All India Survey on Higher Education portal, home page and menu: https://aishe.gov.in (read 2026-10-28 and 2026-10-29).
• Web DCF forms and manuals: https://aishe.gov.in/web-dcf/
• Guidelines for addition of College/Standalone Institution on AISHE portal (Statistics Division, DoHE, MoE; updated 28.02.2024): https://aishe.gov.in/guidelines-for-addition-of-college-standalone/
• ONOS, How to join: https://onos.gov.in/how-to-join (read 2026-08-26).