Categories | Higher education |
---|---|
Frequency | Annual |
Publisher | Ministry of Education |
First issue | 2016 |
Country | India |
Website | nirfindia.org |
National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the former Ministry of Human Resource Development (now the Ministry of Education) and launched by the Minister on 29 September 2015. [1]
Depending on their areas of operation, institutions have been ranked under 11 different categories – overall, university, colleges, engineering, management, pharmacy, law, medical, architecture, dental and research. [2] The Framework uses several parameters for ranking purposes like resources, research, and stakeholder perception. These parameters have been grouped into five clusters and these clusters were assigned certain weights. These weights depend on the type of institution. About 3500 institutions voluntarily participated in the first round of rankings. [3]
NIRF was allotted a budget of ₹3 crore (US$380,000) for 2021–22. [4]
The 2017 rankings were released by MHRD on 3 April 2017. [5] While in its first rankings released in 2016, NIRF had four categories (Universities, Engineering, Management and Pharmacy), in 2017, two more categories namely, Overall and College, were added. Around 3,000 institutions participated in the rankings. [6]
On 3 April 2018, the 2018 NIRF rankings were released with an increased number of participating institutions over the previous year. [7]
The 2019 NIRF ranking was released on 8 April 2019 in 9 categories: Overall, Universities, Engineering, Colleges, Management, Pharmacy, Medical, Architecture, and Law. [8]
For the 2020 rankings, around 3,800 institutions participated in the process, a 20% increase over 2019. [9] The 2020 ranked lists were released by MHRD on 11 June 2020. For the first time, dental institutes were placed in a new category. [10]
MHRD organized a one-day workshop on 21 August 2014 on evolving methodologies for the ranking of institutions of higher education in India. The meeting resolved to establish a committee for building a national ranking framework. Later it was also decided to appoint representatives of central universities for the proposed committee. Based on these decisions, a core committee consisting of 16 members was constituted on 29 October 2014 with secretary (HE, MHRD, as chairperson and additional secretary (TE), MHRD, as member-secretary. The other members were the vice-chancellors of Delhi University, EFL University, Central University of Gujarat and JNU, the directors of the IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, NIT Tiruchirappalli, NIT Warangal, IIIT&M Gwalior, IISER Bhopal, SPA Delhi, NAAC, and chairperson of NBA. [11]
The terms of reference of the committee were:
The core committee identified a set of measurable parameters to be used as metrics for ranking the institutions. These parameters were grouped into five major headings. The committee suggested the weightages to be assigned to various groups of parameters in the case of institutions of engineering education and left the task of carrying out similar exercises for institutions of other disciplines to other competent agencies. The initial draft of the report was prepared by Surendra Prasad, chairman, National Board of Accreditation and Member of the core committee.
The University Grants Commission constituted an expert committee on 9 October 2015 to develop a framework for the ranking of universities and colleges in India and the framework developed by this expert committee has been incorporated into NIRF. [12] The core committee also suggested a framework for ranking institutions offering management education also. [13] The All India Council for Technical Education developed parameters and metrics for ranking institutions offering pharmacy education [14] and also architecture education. [15]
The following are some of the recommendations of the core committee: [11]
The approved set of parameter groups and the weightages assigned to them in respect of institutions offering programmes in engineering, management, pharmacy and architecture are given in the following table.
Parameters | Category A institutions | Category B institutions |
Teaching, learning and resources (TLR) | 0.30 | 0.30 |
Research, professional practice and collaborative performance (RPC) | 0.30 | 0.20 |
Graduation outcome (GO) | 0.15 | 0.25 |
Outreach and inclusivity (OI) | 0.15 | 0.15 |
Perception (PR) | 0.10 | 0.10 |
The approved set of parameter groups and the weightages assigned to them in respect of overall rating and for colleges are given in the following table, for 2018.
Parameters | Overall [16] | Colleges [17] |
---|---|---|
Teaching, learning and resources (TLR) | 0.30 | 0.40 |
Research, productivity, impact and IPR (RPII) | 0.30 | 0.15 |
Graduation outcome (GO) | 0.20 | 0.25 |
Outreach and inclusivity (OI) | 0.10 | 0.10 |
Perception (PR) | 0.10 | 0.10 |
Rank | Name | City | State |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Indian Institute of Science | Bengaluru | Karnataka |
2 | Jawaharlal Nehru University | New Delhi | Delhi |
3 | Jamia Millia Islamia | New Delhi | Delhi |
4 | Jadavpur University | Kolkata | West Bengal |
5 | Banaras Hindu University | Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh |
6 | Manipal Academy of Higher Education-Manipal | Manipal | Karnataka |
7 | Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | Coimbatore | Tamil Nadu |
8 | Vellore Institute of Technology | Vellore | Tamil Nadu |
9 | Aligarh Muslim University | Aligarh | Uttar Pradesh |
10 | University of Hyderabad | Hyderabad | Telangana |
Rank | Name | City | State |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Indian Institute of Technology Madras | Chennai | Tamil Nadu |
2 | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi | New Delhi | Delhi |
3 | Indian Institute of Technology Bombay | Mumbai | Maharashtra |
4 | Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur | Kanpur | Uttar Pradesh |
5 | Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | Roorkee | Uttarakhand |
6 | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur | Kharagpur | West Bengal |
7 | Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati | Guwahati | Assam |
8 | Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad | Hyderabad | Telangana |
9 | National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli | Tiruchirappalli | Tamil Nadu |
10 | Jadavpur University | Kolkata | West Bengal |
As in every part of the world, there is constructive criticism with a purpose & projected criticism more or less a rant by those who feel hard done by the rankings. At least there has been an effort by the GOI to establish quantitative assessment upon a qualitative framework (something which was totally lacking earlier) is totally forgotten. The rankings have been heavily criticized as an attempt to manipulate students, companies and general public. [21] [22] In spite of these criticisms, the government has done little to modify the methodologies or results of the rankings. The list was criticized for being incomplete, incoherent and bordering on the random in 2017. [23] Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi raised objection on 2017 NIRF ranking, accusing it of being based on incomplete data. [24]
In 2021, Professor Anil Kumar Tripathi, director of the Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University criticized the NIRF University rankings, accusing it to compare institutions with same budget but varying number of students. He said that "IISc no doubt, is the top institution in the country. Banaras Hindu University (BHU), however, is a different kind of educational institution. Both institutions have almost the same budget but the same amount of money caters to a large number of students, teachers and infrastructure at BHU. In comparison to IISc the money available is about five to ten times lesser in our university because of the sheer size". [25]
Panjab University (PU) is an Indian collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Lahore, which was founded in 1882. After the partition of India, the university was established on 1 October 1947, and called East Punjab University. Initially housed primarily at a cantonment in Solan, it later relocated to a newly built campus in Chandigarh, and was renamed Panjab University. It is accredited by NAAC at five star level, with the highest NAAC A++ accreditation grade.
Banasthali Vidyapith is a university located in the Tonk district of the Rajasthan state in India. It is a deemed university offering programs at the secondary, senior secondary, undergraduate, and postgraduate degree levels.
The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) is a research deemed university, founded as a non-profit public-private partnership (N-PPP), located in Hyderabad, India. It is the first IIIT in India under this model.
Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi(IIT-BHU) is a public technical university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1919 as the Banaras Engineering College, it became the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University in 1968. It was later designated an Indian Institute of Technology in 2012. IIT (BHU) Varanasi has 16 departments, 3 inter-disciplinary schools and 1 Humanities & Social Sciences Section. It is located inside the Banaras Hindu University Campus.
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, formerly Indraprastha University, is a state university located in Dwarka, Delhi, India. The university is organized around fourteen university schools and three university centers that focus on programs in law, medicine, technology, education, entrepreneurship, science and business.
Indian Institute of Management Mumbai, formerly known as the National Institute for Training in Industrial Engineering and later as National Institute of Industrial Engineering, is a graduate business school under the Ministry of Education (India), Government of India located in Powai near Vihar Lake in Mumbai and is ranked 7th among B-Schools of India as per NIRF 2023 rankings.
Nirma University (NU) is a private university located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It functions under the aegis of the Nirma Education and Research Foundation (NERF). The Gujarat Government has granted "Centre of Excellence" status to Nirma University.
Jamia Hamdard is an institute of higher education deemed to be university located in New Delhi, India. Established in 1989, it is a government-funded university and was formally inaugurated by then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. In 2019, it was awarded Institute of Eminence status by Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), formerly KIIT University, is a Premier deemed university located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. It primarily emphasizes on higher education and research in engineering and science. It offers 34 undergraduate, 32 postgraduate, 10 integrated, 11 Ph.D and 7 postdoctoral research programmes in the fields of science and engineering, medical science, management, law, film and media, humanities and yoga and sports. The admissions for all the programmes except for MBBS and BDS are conducted through KIITEE exam which is held annually in multiple phases.
Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) is a private deemed university located in Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The university was founded by the late M. V. V. S. Murthi in Visakhapatnam in 1980. It was previously affiliated with Andhra University as GITAM College before gaining autonomous status in the year 2007.
Lovely Professional University (LPU) is a private university located in Chaheru, Phagwara, Punjab, India. The university was established in 2005 by Lovely International Trust, through the Lovely Professional University Act, 2005 and started operation in 2006.
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata is an public autonomous Research institute in science and education field located in Mohanpur near the town of Kalyani in Nadia, West Bengal, India. It was established by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 11 July 2006 and promoted to the status of an Arya Institute in 2012 vide the NIT Amendment Act. It is one of seven Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, and was one of the first IISERs to be established along with IISER Pune. It is considered to be one of the leading institutes of India in terms of research output. In 2022, it was ranked fourth among the academic institutions in India by the Nature Index in 2022. The current director of IISER Kolkata is Prof Sunil Kumar Khare.
Amity University, Noida is a private research university located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was established in 2005 by an Act of the State Legislature of Uttar Pradesh. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission and accredited by the NAAC with grade 'A+'. It has several campuses in India and overseas branch campuses in London, Dubai, Singapore, Mauritius and Uzbekistan.
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are a network of engineering and technology institutions in India. Established in 1950, they are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India and are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. The Act declares them as Institutes of National Importance and lays down their powers, duties, and framework for governance as the country's premier institutions in the field of technology. The act currently lists twenty-three IITs. Each IIT has autonomy and is linked to others through a common council called the IIT Council, which oversees their administration. The Minister of Education of India is the ex officio chairperson of the IIT Council.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) is a ministry of the Government of India, responsible for the implementation of the National Policy on Education. The ministry is further divided into two departments: the Department of School Education and Literacy, which deals with primary, secondary and higher secondary education, adult education and literacy, and the Department of Higher Education, which deals with university level education, technical education, scholarships, etc.
Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (SOA), formerly Siksha 'O' Anusandhan University (SOA University) is a private deemed university located at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. The university is composed of nine degree-granting schools and colleges and has a student body of around 15,000. Many of SOA's programs are nationally accredited, including engineering, medicine, pharmacy, business, nursing, biotechnology, science, humanities, environment, nano technology, materials science, agriculture and law.
India has a publicly funded higher education system that is the third largest in the world. The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission, which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state. Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 15 autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani is a deemed university in Pilani, Rajasthan, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. BITS Pilani is one of the first six institutes in India to be granted Institute of Eminence status. According to 2012 data, BITS Pilani has an acceptance rate of 1.47%, making it one of the most exclusive technical universities in the world.
Chandigarh University (CU) is a private university located in Mohali, India. The university was established on 10 July 2012 by an act of Punjab State Legislature. It is recognized by University Grants Commission under Section 2(f) with the right to confer degrees as per Section 22(1) of the UGC Act, 1956.
Institutes of Eminence (IoE) is a recognition scheme for higher education institutes in India, set by the University Grants Commission in 2017. The plan encompasses twenty institutions, twelve of which have already been declared Institutes of Eminence as of April 2021. Recognised institutes are granted more autonomy, both administratively and academically, are allowed to open offshore campuses, and will enjoy better collaboration opportunities with global universities. Public institutions are granted up to ₹1,000 crore ; no funding is awarded to private institutions.