The Ministry of Education will announce the NIRF Rankings 2025 on September 4, 2025, marking the 10th edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework. The comprehensive rankings will be available on the official website nirfindia.org, evaluating higher education institutions across 17 categories with significant new additions and methodological changes.
Key Changes in NIRF Rankings 2025
This year's NIRF Rankings release date brings two major innovations to the evaluation system. For the first time, a new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) category has been introduced, reflecting global benchmarks in higher education and institutions' contributions to environmental and social sustainability. Additionally, the framework will implement a negative grading system for research article retractions, ensuring stricter standards for research quality and integrity.
The NIRF college rankings will now penalize institutions under the "Research and Professional Practices" parameter through a new formula that accounts for retracted publications, promoting research integrity across Indian higher education establishments.
Expanded Categories and Evaluation Framework
The NIRF Rankings 2025 will evaluate institutions across 17 categories, including the traditional Overall, Universities, Colleges, Engineering, Management, Medical, Pharmacy, Law, Dental, Architecture and Planning, Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Research Institutions, and Innovation categories. The framework also includes Open Universities, Skill Universities, and State Public Universities - categories introduced in 2024 - alongside the new Sustainability category.
Institutions continue to be assessed on five core parameters: Teaching, Learning and Resources; Research and Professional Practice; Graduation Outcomes; Outreach and Inclusivity; and Peer Perception. These parameters maintain different weighted averages across categories to ensure appropriate evaluation methodologies
Recent Performance Trends
IIT Madras has consistently dominated the NIRF Ranking landscape, maintaining the top overall position for three consecutive years (2022-2024). The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore has secured the second position, while IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi have alternated between third and fourth ranks.
In specialized categories, AIIMS Delhi leads medical colleges, IIM Ahmedabad tops management schools, and NLSIU Bangalore remains the premier law institution. The engineering category continues to be led by IIT Madras, followed by IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay.
Delayed Release and Legal Challenges
The NIRF Rankings 2025 release date was delayed following a temporary stay by the Madras High Court over concerns regarding data transparency and integrity in the ranking process. The court dismissed the Public Interest Litigation after addressing concerns about self-reported institutional data without independent verification.
Unlike the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which uses expert committees for data verification, NIRF relies primarily on self-reported institutional information, leading to concerns about potential data manipulation for higher rankings.
Historical Release Timeline
The National Institutional Ranking Framework has maintained varying release schedules over recent years. The 2024 rankings were announced on August 12, while 2023 rankings came out on June 5. Previous years saw releases on July 15 (2022), September 9 (2021), and June 11 (2020).
The September 4 release will be conducted at Shastri Bhawan by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, continuing the tradition of high-profile announcements for these influential institutional assessments.
