Pakistan’s universities at a crossroads

Umair Ahmad PAKISTAN’S higher education system has reached a stage where further progress can no longer be measured by counting campuses, programmes or graduates. With roughly 270 universities and degree-awarding institutions, the country has achieved substantial institutional expansion, yet the real test is whether this system is producing employable graduates, usable research and measurable economic value for the economy and society. Gross tertiary enrolment remains relatively low and the translation of this expansion into broad-based economic uplift remains limited. For years, the policy conversation rightly prioritized access, expansion and infrastructure. Those goals were essential in building the current higher education architecture. However, they are no longer sufficient. The more critical question today is whether universities are aligned with Pakistan’s productivity needs, technological transition, labour market realities and long-term development ambitions. On many conventional indicators, universities appear to be “doing well”: degree production has risen, digital systems have improved, research output has increased and structures like ORICs, advisory boards, quality assurance cells and accreditation regimes are in place. The core difficulty lies in converting academic activity into economic, social and developmental outcomes at scale. This gap is often summarised under the label of “weak industry–academia linkages,” but the problem is deeper than the mere presence or absence of linkages. Pakistan does not lack MoUs, advisory bodies or coordination platforms; it lacks execution models that consistently deliver results. In many institutions, industry advisory boards meet without exerting binding influence on curricula ORICs exist but remain underpowered and partnerships are evaluated by the number of agreements signed rather than the value created such as products developed, processes improved, firms upgraded or public policies informed. At the same time,