NIRF Rankings 2024: How are India’s best universities ranked? Here’s everything you need to know

The Ministry of Education is gearing up to release the latest edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings, an annual exercise where universities and other educational institutes across India are ranked based on significant parameters. The NIRF Rankings 2024 will be the ninth edition of the yearly task carried out by the Ministry.

Now, what exactly are these rankings and what is the methodology behind chalking out the best educational institutions?

The NIRF ranking methodology draws from the overall recommendations understanding arrived at by a Core Committee set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), to identify the broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions. There are a total of five parameters, each with its sub-heads.

The ranking methodology as per NIRF:

• The ranking Methodology is based on developing a set of metrics for ranking of academic institutions, based on the parameters agreed upon by the core committee.
• Each ranking parameter and its sub-heads have a weight assigned to it.
• While ranking, an attempt is made to identify relevant data needed to measure the performance score under each sub-head. In other words, only those data are identified that are easily provided by the institution or are easy to obtain from third-party sources and easily verifiable wherever needed, thereby making the process transparent.
• A suitable metric is proposed based on this data which computes a score under each sub-head.
• The sub-head scores are then added to obtain scores for each parameter. The overall score is then computed based on the weights allotted to each head. The score can be a maximum value of 100.
• The institutions are then ranked based on their scores.

Also read: NIRF Rankings 2023: IISc Bangalore, JNU and Jamia among top 10 universities, check top 10 list

The five crucial parameters and their sub-heads:

1. Teaching, Learning, and Resources (Marks 100, Weightage 0.30)

• Student Strength including Doctoral Students (SS)
• Faculty-student ratio with emphasis on permanent faculty (FSR)
• Combined metric for Faculty with PhD (or equivalent) and Experience (FQE)
• Financial Resources and their Utilisation (FRU)

2. Research and Professional Practices (Marks 100, Weightage 0.30)

• Combined metric for Publications (PU)
• Combined metric for Quality of Publications (QP)
• IPR and Patents: Published and Granted (IPR)
• Footprint of Projects and Professional Practice (FPPP)

3. Graduation Outcomes (Marks 100, Weightage 0.20)

• Metric for University Examinations (GUE)
• Metric for Number of Ph.D. Students Graduated (GPHD)

4. Outreach and Inclusivity (Marks 100, Weightage 0.10)

• Percentage of Students from Other States/Countries (Region Diversity RD)
• Percentage of Women (Women Diversity WD)
• Economically and Socially Challenged Students (ESCS)
• Facilities for Physically Challenged Students (PCS)
• Perception (PR) Ranking

5.Perception (Marks 100, Weightage 0.10)

• Academic Peers and Employers (PR)

Also read: NIRF Rankings 2023: List of Top 10 Dental Colleges in India

CATEGORIES:

The NIRF Rankings are given in the following categories:

• Overall
• Universities
• Colleges
• Research Institutions
• Engineering
• Management
• Pharmacy
• Medical
• Dental
• Law
• Architecture and Planning
• Agriculture and Allied Sectors
• Innovation

NIRF 2023 HIGHLIGHTS:

Last year, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras secured the top position in the overall category, followed by IISc Bangalore which secured the second position, and IIT Delhi at third. IIT Madras got a score of 86.69% and emerged at the top place for the fifth time in 2023.

In the Medical category, AIIMS Delhi topped the list, whereas IIM Ahmedabad topped in the Management category. IIT Madras was the topper in the Engineering category.

It now remains to be seen which institution will be ranked number one in the latest edition.