As envisaged in national education policy (2020), all higher educational institutions will aim to have a student strength of ________ by 2040.

The correct option is >5000.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 introduces a major structural reform of higher education in India. One of the central pillars of this reform is addressing the fragmentation of the higher education system by consolidating thousands of small, single-stream colleges into large, well-resourced, multidisciplinary universities and college clusters.
This strategy aims to optimize the use of physical infrastructure, academic resources, and human capital, thereby building vibrant learning communities.

To achieve this, the policy sets a target timeline: by the year 2040, all higher educational institutions (HEIs) must aim to become multidisciplinary institutions. Along with this transformation, these institutions will target a significant increase in their capacity, aiming to achieve a student strength of >5000 to sustain a diverse, efficient, and comprehensive academic ecosystem.