Indian Universities in QS World University Rankings

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance

Why in News?

Recently the latest edition of rankings of higher education institutions across the world was released by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm.

• QS rankings – The ranking of universities is published annually and is evaluated based on several parameters including,
  • Academic reputation – Global perception of teaching and research quality
  • Research impact – Citations per faculty, International Research Network
  • Diversity – International students & faculty (introduced in this year’s rankings}
  • Student outcomes – Employer Reputation, Job placement.
  • Learning environment – Student-faculty ratio, academic infrastructure
  • Sustainability – Environmental responsibility
• 2026 edition – In the 2026 edition the analytics firm evaluated 8467 institutions and ranked top 1500 institutions.
• For the first time, over 50 Indian universities feature in the QS World University Rankings 2026 Top 1,500 list.
• This marks significant progress from just 11 universities in 2015, reflecting growing global competitiveness of Indian higher education.
• World university rankings – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States, secured top position for 14^th straight year.
  • Imperial College London secured 2^nd position and
  • Stanford University secured 3rdposition

Performance of Indian Universities

• Total Indian Universities in Top 1500 – 54 Institutions.
• New entrants - 8 universities, including,
  • Ashoka University, Haryana
  • Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence, Greater Noida
• Top performers:
  • IIT Delhi – 123
  • IIT Bombay – 129
  • IIT Madras – 180
  • IIT Kharagpur – 215
  • IISc Bengaluru – 219
• Indian universities are adapting to global benchmarks, improving comparability with international peers.
• Student-faculty ratio - Indian Average is 19:1 which is lower that Global Competitiveness Benchmark: (10-15):1
• Research output – Historically low focus on original research in Indian universities, unlike global trends.
• Positive shift seen in IITs, IISERs, and private universities post National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises research in higher education.
• Industry linkages – IITs, IIMs have long prioritised placements.
• Now, even large public universities are focusing on student employability, crucial for ranking success.

Reference

The Hindu| Indian Universities in QS World University Rankings