The World Rankings: IISc Bangalore Dribbles out of Top 100 Universities

When Asian territories like China, Hong Kong and Singapore are gaining momentum in the educational sphere, Indian Universities saw a setback in this year’s THE World University Rankings. Phil Baty, editorial director, Global Rankings, Times Higher Education, informed that “India’s flagship Indian Institute of Sciences moves further away from the elite top 200.”

IISc Bangalore, which held a spot in the band of 201-250 last year has now slipped further into the cohort of 251-300, resulting in India’s elimination from the prestigious camp of top 200. However, in the 2018 rankings, China has made a mark as it is the joint sixth most-represented nation in the top 200 with 7 representing universities. Similar growth has been showcased by Universities in Hong Kong and Singapore.

As quoted on the times higher education world ranking official website, “India’s representation has declined, from 31 institutions to 30, while eight of its universities have slipped to a lower band. The country’s flagship university, the Indian Institute of Science, has been demoted from the 201-250 cohort to the 251-300 band as its research income and citation impact have declined”

In a nutshell- Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore remained the highest ranked institute from the country. However, its ranking in the list has slipped from the 201-250 band to the 251-300 band. Besides, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee have managed to find their place among 501–600 band. Apart from these prestigious institutes, Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University, University of Delhi and IIT Guwahati made it to the 601–800 list.

The degrees of excellence have changed over the past one year, with the considerable slip in the rankings. The graph below discerns and showcases this fall.

Why this Drop?

There has been a considerable drop in the rankings for which many reasons are cited. But before getting into the reasons for this lag, we must know what are the required aspects to escalate world rankings of Indian Universities.

Times Higher Education primarily concentrates upon the fact that a University or Institute should include and encourage research related activities. For overall development and improvement in the rankings, Government too has to make sure that without financial hindrance the institutes can carry forward such activities.

With 99.5 score in this arena, Research-driven university, Oxford has numerous strengths but cites particular expertise in the sciences, having recently ranked number one in the world for medicine and among the top ten universities globally for life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities.

A university’s competence is also justified by the global exposure it has to offer. This does not restrict to the student ratio itself, but also extends to the faculty. What proves out to be a pain point for Indian Universities is the percentage of International students it can enroll as per the Government’s advisory.

In this view, Oxford sets the right example as the enrolment counts up to 22,000 in total, of which, whooping 40% is acquired by International applicants. Oxford sets up the example of cultural diversity with among 140 countries being part of its educational sphere.

Amends Required

Among all the other determinants, these factors have brought to notice the pain points of Indian Universities and why there has been a decline in the overall global ranking.

Therefore, among all the other factors, funding, research and International indulgence are competent contributors to the improvement of these rankings. Since research driven universities have been the most sought after in the World, therefore, Indian Institutes have an urgent need to inculcate global standards of research. More citations in internationally acclaimed Journals and Research Papers must be gained.

Phil Baty, who has 20 years of experience working in global higher education sector, a scope of improvement in the rankings is expected in coming years as there is "really positive news in that India's overall research income and research quality has risen this year, and the country's world class university plan shows that it recognizes the importance of investing in higher education."

The major area of improvement lies in the limited number of international students any university can intake as per the directives of Indian government. Taking a hint from the leaders of the global rankings among Universities, amends can be made in the rules to observe better performance.

About THE World University Rankings

Times Higher Education World University Rankings, founded in 2004, provides a list of the world's best universities, evaluated across teaching, research, international outlook, reputation and many other criteria to ascertain their dedication to provide World Class Education.

The data furnished after research is a verified and trusted source of information which can help students to choose the University or College they wish to study in.