Geography at the master’s level is inherently practice-intensive subject requiring laboratories, fieldwork, and increasingly, GIS/remote-sensing infrastructure yet many Indian higher education institutions struggle to provide the necessary facilities at scale. Recent national data show steady expansion in higher education participation (All-India GER 28.4% in 2021–22), while Rajasthan’s enrolment growth has been notably sluggish in 2022–23, sharpening concerns about quality and capacity rather than access alone. Against this backdrop, this mixed-methods study examines trends and challenges in present studies across higher education institutions in Rajasthan with a focus on postgraduate Geography. Primary data comprise semi-structured interviews with 10 Master’s students and 5 faculty members from government and private institutions; secondary evidence is drawn from AISHE and state/sectoral reviews on governance, infrastructure, and teaching–learning conditions. Thematic analysis and simple descriptive tabulations indicate four recurring issues: (i) chronic infrastructure deficits (labs, field instruments, licensed GIS software), (ii) strategic subject choice by students to maximize marks inpracticals despite thin facilities, (iii) low intrinsic interest in deeper theoretical and spatial reasoning within Geography, and (iv) perceived erosion of disciplinary relevance in the absence of modernized curricula and hands-on GIS/RS exposure, patterns consistent with wider evidence on digital/geospatial capacity gaps in higher education. Triangulating primary and secondary data, we argue that the constraint is less enrolment than academic infrastructure and pedagogy: underfunded labs, limited fieldwork, and insufficient faculty upskilling in geospatial technologies. Policy and institutional recommendations include ring-fenced performance-linked infrastructure grants, shared GIS labs, fieldwork bursaries, faculty development in geospatial tools, and industry/agency partnerships to restore relevance and learning depth.