For the very first time, a record-breaking number of 91 Indian universities have entered the much coveted list of the World University Rankings announced by the prestigeous Times Higher Education (THE) magazine, with the top performing Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, returning to the global 250 for the first time since 2017.
While IISc remains the best university in India, the global list is topped by the UK's University of Oxford followed by the United State's Stanford University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is at the third place.
The 20th edition of university ranking covered 1,904 universities, up from 1,799 last year, across 108 countries and regions.
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91 Indian Universities in Times list
Presence of ninety-one Indian universities in the list is considered as a significant increase from last year's 75 despite the fact that several top Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) boycotted the rankings for the fourth consecutive year.
India has also become the fourth best represented nation in the 2024 rankings, up from the sixth last year.
According to the rankings, the second best performing universities in India are: Anna University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Mahatma Gandhi University, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences. The are all in the 501-600 band.
Two IITs -- the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad -- moved up two bands to join the world's top 800 universities, from 1001-1200 to 601-800.
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While Anna University in Chennai moved up from 801-1000 band last year to the 501-600 band, Aligarh Muslim University moved up from the 801-1000 band last year to the 601-800.
The Bharathiar University in Coimbatore moved up from the 801-1000 band last year to the 601-800 band, while Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur has entered the ranking for the first time, breaking into the 601-800 band.
Seven IITs — Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, and Roorkee — opted out of THE World University Rankings in 2020, casting doubt on the rankings' transparency and standards. IIT Guwahati reentered the rankings last year.
165 New Names: Asia Shines Bright
This time, THE magazine included as many as 165 universities, 89 of which are from Asia with one newly ranked university from mainland China.
Mainland China has the best ranked universities, overall, in Asia.
This year an unprecedented 33 Asian universities are in the top 200, up from 28 last year with the biggest contributors being China (from 11 to 13) and Japan (from 2 to 5).
About the indicators
To rank the top most educational institutions across the planet, the THE magazine evaluated the universities on the basis of 18 indicators encompassing their core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and internationalisation.
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The indicators were grouped into five pillars -- teaching, research quality, research environment, international outlook and industry. Four of the five new metrics include three that look at research quality and one that examines patents.
"India has well and truly embraced the international 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 now the fourth best represented nation in the rankings," said Phil Baty, THE's Chief Global Affairs Officer.
"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," he said.
