Times Higher Education Magazine’s Global Rankings include 91 Indian universities for the first time ever; IISC is India’s best while Oxford tops the list
First time ever, 91 Indian universities—a record number—have made it into the highly sought-after list of the World University Rankings published by the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) magazine. The top-performing Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, has also made its way back to the top 250 for the first time since 2017.
Although IISc continues to be the greatest institution in India, Stanford institution and the University of Oxford lead the list of top universities worldwide. Third position belongs to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The 20th edition of the university ranking included 1,904 institutions from 108 different nations and regions, an increase from 1,799 the previous year.
Times ranking of 91 Indian Universities
Despite the fact that some prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) boycotted the rankings for the fourth consecutive year, the presence of ninety-one Indian institutions on the list is regarded to be a considerable gain from previous year’s 75.
India has also moved up from sixth place last year to fourth place in the rankings for 2024.
According to the rankings, Anna University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Mahatma Gandhi University, and Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences are India’s second-best performing institutions. They’re all in the range of 501 to 600.
The Indian Institute of Technology in Guwahati and the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) in Dhanbad moved up two bands, from 1001-1200 to 601-800, to enter the top 800 institutions in the world.
Aligarh Muslim University moved up from the 801-1000 band last year to the 601-800 band, while Anna University in Chennai moved up from the 801-1000 band to the 501-600 band.
Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur has joined the list for the first time, breaking into the 601-800 band, while Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, moved up from the 801-1000 band to the 601-800 band last year.
The openness and criteria of the rankings were questioned when seven IITs, including Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, and Roorkee, chose not to participate in the 2020 edition of THE World University Rankings. Last year, IIT Guwahati reentered the ranks.
Asia Shines Bright in 165 New Names
This time, THE magazine included up to 165 institutions, 89 of which are in Asia, including one newly rated institution from mainland China.
Asia’s top universities are all located in mainland China.
China (up from 11 to 13 institutions) and Japan (up from 2 to 5) have made the largest contributions, bringing the total number of Asian universities in the top 200 to 33 this year, up from 28 the year before.
Regarding the signs
THE magazine analyzed universities based on 18 parameters including their fundamental goals of teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and internationalization in order to rank the best educational institutions worldwide.
The five pillars of education, research quality, research environment, global view, and industry were used to categorize the metrics. Three of the new measures, out of a total of five, analyze the quality of research, while another one examines patents.
According to THE’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Phil Baty, “India has fully embraced the global agenda and international competition, with an unprecedented 91 universities making it into the rigorous and demanding Times Higher Education World University Rankings this year, making India the fourth best represented nation in the rankings.”
“Although methodological changes this year have not been kind to some Indian institutions, the overall picture remains positive — with a rise into the top 250 for IISc and several other rising institutions,” the professor added.
