The rating and ranking of education institutions by media publications has become quite the fashion these days. Yet the league tables of media publications and HRD ministry vary widely because of divergent methodologies employed in ranking HEIs (higher education institutions).

We believe that the institution evaluation methodology used by EducationWorld is the best because it is the most simple and straightforward. Our market research agency C fore, Delhi constitutes a database of sample respondents comprising eminent educationists, vice chancellors, faculty, industry representatives and senior students who are invited to award perceptual scores on a scale of 100-400 on 10-12 parameters of higher education excellence (competence of faculty, leadership, infrastructure, placements etc to short-listed HEIs). On the other hand, India Today requires HEIs to complete detailed questionnaires. Ditto the HRD ministry’s NIRF rankings. HEIs that don’t respond within the specified timeframe are not ranked. On the other hand, EW-C fore compulsorily rates and ranks the country’s most well-reputed HEIs whether they like it or not.

Our straightforward, objective methodology for ranking the country’s premier private HEIs safeguards against misleading absurdities which are rife in the India Today and NIRF league tables. For instance, in the India Today league table of India’s Top 10 private general universities, the nationally reputed Manipal, Ashoka and O.P. Jindal Global universities (ranked #1, 2 and 6 by EW) are not ranked at all. And in the technical universities category, BITS-Pilani commonly equated with the best IITs, is not ranked among the Top 16 assessed.

The HRD ministry’s NIRF rankings are equally incredible. Manipal U is ranked #9 and Amity University, ranked #1 by India Today and #3 by EW, is ranked #58, while DAICT, ranked #6 in India and #1 in Gujarat by EW, is ranked 101-150 by NIRF.

By attempting to provide hard facts and “authentic data”, the holier than thou India Today and NIRF league tables of India’s best HEIs are bringing education rankings into disrepute.