The number of Indian universities featuring in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings has been increasing steadily. While 41 of them made it to the list last year, this year’s list, which was out a few days ago, features 45 entries. The number used to be 28 in 2021.

The new additions this year are the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Chitkara University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and the Indian Statistical Institute.

QS World University Rankings is often considered the most widely read university rankings in the world and according to its latest edition, the best-ranked Indian university is IIT Bombay. The research institute is the 149th best in the world as of now and jumped 23 ranks from its 177th rank last year, to reach this position.

It is followed by IIT Delhi, IISc Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras and IIT Guwahati.

Falling ranks

While IIT Bombay jumped 23 ranks to become the 149th best institute in the world, the ranks of many other premier institutes have dropped massively. This includes IIT Delhi, IISc Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras. IIT Delhi moved from the 174th best in the world last year to the 197th position this year. IISc was part of the top 200 institutes with the 155th rank last year. Its rank has fallen 70 places and is now the only 225th best in the world. This is the worst rank ever for the institute, which otherwise always found a place in the top 200. IIT Kharagpur has moved from 270th to the 271st and IIT Kanpur has moved from the 264th to the 278th. IIT Madras also holds its worst rank since 2016, falling 35 places since last year.

QS vs NIRF

According to QS, IIT Bombay is the best educational institute in India. However, according to the Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework, it is only the fourth best in the country, after IIT Madras, IISc Bangalore and IIT Delhi. This is because the parameters that QS and NIRF rely upon are different.

For instance, QS considers Academic reputation, faculty-student ratio, citation of research work published by faculty members, International Faculty Ratio, International Students Ratio, International Research Network, Employer Reputation and sustainability. NIRF, on the other hand, looks at Teaching and Learning Resources, Research and Professional Practice, Graduation Outcome, Outreach and Inclusivity and perception of the institution.

What worked in IIT Bombay’s favour here is its high employer reputation (81.9 on 100), more citations per faculty ( a score of 73.1 out of 100) and sustainability (54.9). IIT Madras scored only 6.5 on the sustainability factor, which looks at an institute’s actions towards social and climate justice.

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