NIRF 2021

On 9^th September 2021, the Ministry of Education, Government of India released the 6^th edition of NIRF. In India, NIRF ranking is very important for any higher education institute in India, be it college or university, as it is a key decision criteria for students taking admission in any institution. It is also true that NIRF ranking shows the quality of an institute.

In this blog we will be discussing the top 100 private universities of India under NIRF ranking 2021. But before beginning with the private university list, we must note that in the 6^th edition of NIRF, IIT Madras, ISC Bangalore and IIT Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur have emerged as top 5 higher education institutes in the country.

The Indian private university that is on the topmost rank out of all the top 100 institutions is Amrita Vishwa Vidhyapeetham, which stands on the 12^th rank overall and on the 5^th rank in the university category. The second university is Manipal Academy of Higher Education, which stands on the 15^th rank overall and on the 7^th rank in the university category. Then comes Vellore Institute of Technology in 3^rd place, which stands on the 21^st rank overall and on the 13^th rank in the university category. On the 4^th number is Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University Bhuvaneshwar, Odisha, which stands on the 37^th rank overall and on the 20^th rank in the university category. The next on the list is Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), which stands on the 39^th rank overall and on the 21^st rank in the university category. So these are the top 5 private universities that have made a place for themselves beside government universities like IITs in the NIRF ranking.

The next university on the list is Amity University, which stands on the 43rd rank overall and on the 25^th rank in the university category. After that we have Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, which stands on the 45th rank overall and on the 26^th rank in the university category. Following university is Savita Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, which stands on the 49^th rank overall and on the 29th rank in the university category. Then comes SRM Institute of Science and Technology, which stands on the 53rd rank overall and on the 30th rank in the university category. In 10th position, we have JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, which stands on the 56^th rank overall and on the 34th rank in the university category.

So this was a list of the top 10 private universities under NIRF ranking. A point to be noted here is that private universities are self-funded and it is a wonderful thing that these universities have been able to fulfill all the criteria of NIRF and made their position there.

Other private universities that are a part of this list are Banasthali Vidyapeeth, which is for women; KL College of Engineering Andhra Pradesh; Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research; Chandigarh University, one of the youngest universities of India; Shiv Nadar University; Lovely Professional University; Pandit Deen Dayal Energy University; Avinashilingam  Institute of Home Science and Higher Education For Women; NITTE; Shri Balaji Vidyapeeth Medical College; International Institute of Technology Hyderabad; Birla Institute Of Technology Ranchi; Shoolini Institute Of Biotechnology And Life Sciences; KLE Academy Of Higher Education And Research; Ashoka University; Graphic Era University; Jain Deemed To Be University and University Of Petroleum And Energy Sciences.

Another very important information is that there are 32 colleges of Tamil Nadu among top 100 NIRF ranking.

You might be wondering what is the need for all this data. NIRF is the first government ranking that has been introduced by MHRD. Before 2015, when NIRF was launched, there were only private rankings most of which used to be released in magazines. But then the government decided that the students who are the major stakeholders of universities should be able to get a clear picture of the quality of each university. This was to make it easier for students to determine well where they would like to take admission. Secondly, it is an amazing thing that so many private universities work hard every year to climb to be in the top 100 in the NIRF ranking and the best thing is that NIRF takes out the list every year, hence no university can stay on the same rank for too long. Therefore, each university needs to prove itself on a yearly basis. This encourages universities to constantly and consistently work hard on the 5 parameters of the list to maintain their position. These are some of the major benchmarks that if followed can pave a way for these universities to retain in the list.

Therefore, the government made it extremely easy for us to check the quality of universities by looking at the university or overall categories. You can also navigate through this list by looking up for university course wise, like for law, pharmacy, medical, etc., then you can choose accordingly. For instance, if you want to be an architect, you can look up for 50 best colleges for studying architecture, similarly for dental or engineering, and so on.

Another hugely significant point is that if you read the top 100 universities, you’ll realise that a lot of research goes behind getting the result. Research has three outcomes – publication, patents and startups – that means that the incubation activity of universities is extremely strong, so many startups are originating from them. So if you observe, research criteria has a connection to each of the other criteria. If your research is strong, your perception will be strong and you will have an outstanding faculty and students, your graduation outcome will be good, you will have good incubation and well-reputed startups will originate from you.

I strongly believe that research is the centre point that ties each and every parameter and criteria to a pillar. Therefore, it is extremely important for each university to have a strong research point.