The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is the methodology approved and adopted by the Ministry of Education in 2015. It outlines the procedure of ranking higher education institutions across India. Every year the ministry releases NIRF ranking in 11 categories, including- Overall Ranking, Overall Ranking, University Ranking, Engineering Ranking, College Ranking, Management Ranking, Pharmacy Ranking, Law Ranking, Architecture Ranking, Medical Ranking, and Dental and Research Institutions. Furthermore, for a simplified approach, the institutions are grouped as - Category A (Institutions of National Importance, State Universities, Deemed-To-be-Universities, Private Universities and Autonomous institutions) and Category B (Institutions affiliated with a university). And the government prepares the ranking list based on the following five parameters.

1. Teaching, Learning & Resources

• Student Strength, including doctoral students (SS)
• Faculty-student ratio with emphasis on permanent faculty (FSR)
• Combined metric for faculty with PhD and experience (FQE)
• Financial resources and their utilisation

2. Research and Professional Practice

• Combined metric for publications (PU)
• Combined metric for quality of publications (QP)
• IPR and Patents: Published and Granted
• The footprint of projects and professional practice

3. Graduation Outcomes

• Metric for University Examinations
• Metric for the Number of PhD students who graduated

4. Outreach and Inclusivity

• Percentage of Students from other states/countries
• Percentage of women
• Economically and socially challenged students
• Facilities for physically challenged students
• Perception Ranking

5. Peer Perception

• Academic peers and employers

Furthermore, for a simplified approach, the institutions are grouped as - Category A (Institutions of National Importance, State Universities, Deemed-To-be-Universities, Private Universities and Autonomous institutions) and Category B (Institutions affiliated with a university).

Read More