Robust and unified system for assessment, accreditation and ranking will play a major role in enhancing the quality of higher education, said Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as he released this year's National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF).
Launched in November 2015, NIRF rates India's educational institutions on five broad parameters - Teaching, Learning and Resources, Research and Professional Practice, Graduation Outcomes, Outreach and Inclusivity and Perception.
While the NIRF is of recent origin, its importance can be determined by the fact that only universities and colleges with NAAC grading or NIRF ranking are eligible for inclusion in the University Grants Commission list for receiving financial assistance.
Following are five takeaways from this year's rankings:
IIT Madras' Domination Continues
The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras remained the top ranked educational institution in India for the fourth consecutive year. Moreover, it also continued to occupy the top spot among engineering institutes for the seventh year in a row. In the ‘Research Institutions' category, IIT Madras was ranked second, behind IISc Bangalore -- same as last year.
IITs Dominate Top Ranks
The Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), the group of prestigious engineering institutes across India, continued to dominate the top 25 ranks in the ‘Engineering' category. For the third consecutive year, 14 out of the top 25 engineering institutions belonged to IIT ecosystem. Moreover, seven of the first 10 places were held by the IITs.
IISc, JNU Top Two Universities
The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore remained the topmost University in India for the seventh straight year. On the other hand, Jawaharlal Nehru University continued to occupy the second spot for the sixth consecutive year. Jamia Millia Islamia jumped three spots to occupy third place, while Jadavpur University rose 4 spots to reach the fourth rank.
Delhi Colleges Outrank Others
Miranda House was declared the topmost college in India for the sixth consecutive year. Sixteen out of the top 30 colleges in India belonged to Delhi. In fact, five out of the first 10 colleges were from Delhi – Miranda House, Hindu College (2), LSR (5), Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College (7) and Kirori Mal College (10).
Rise In Applicants for NIRF Rankings
There has been a rise in total institutions applying for the NIRF rankings since 2016. As per the government, 4,786 institutions applied for rankings under the “Overall”, category-specific and / or domain-specific rankings this year. The number of institutions applying for rankings has increased by over 97 per cent – from 2,426 in 2016 to 4,786 in 2022.
