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The share of educational institutes from South India in the top 25 list of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings has been consistently high in the last five years.
businessline analysed NIRF rankings of the last five years and found that at least 40 per cent of the top 25 institutes (overall category) have been from South India -Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — from 2020 to 2024. For instance, in the 2024 rankings, 10 colleges out of the top 25 institutes are from South India.
NIRF rankings, published by the Ministry of Education annually, ranks higher education institutes based on five major factors: teaching, learning and resources (TLR), research and professional practices (RP), outreach and inclusivity (OI), graduation outcomes (GO) and perception (PR).
The IITs have bagged around 32 per cent share in the top 25 institutes for the last five years. Since 2019, IIT Madras has moved up the ladder to bag the first place for six consecutive times, pushing IISc Bengaluru to second place.
TN’s exceptional performance
Interestingly, Tamil Nadu has had the highest number of institutes (5-6 institutes) in the top 25 list from 2020 to 2024, closely followed by Delhi (with 4-5 institutes).
In 2024, six institutes from Tamil Nadu figured in the top 25 whereas 5 from Delhi bagged a place in the top 25.
Fewer management institutes
While engineering and medicine streams saw a higher number of South Indian institutes in the top 25, the management stream had fewer institutes from the region. In 2024, 10 engineering and medical institutes from the South bagged a spot in the top 25 and only three secured a place in management courses.
State-wise analysis
In the last five years, Tamil Nadu had the highest number of engineering institutes in the top 25. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had the most medical institutes. South India took a backseat in management courses as Central and North India had the highest institutes in the top 25.
Moumita Koley, Senior Research Analyst, DST-CPR, IISc Bengaluru said that unlike global university ranking systems, the NIRF is “more transparent and not commercially driven.” However, she added that the methodology of the NIRF rankings needs re-evaluation to reduce its susceptibility to manipulation.
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