Global higher education analytical organization QS Quacquarelli Symonds has released its latest QS Asia University Rankings 2027. The figures from this new evaluation list have raised serious questions regarding the performance standards of the country's most premier educational institutions. In India, campuses such as the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science are widely recognized as major centers for higher education and academic research. Despite this reputation, not a single domestic institution managed to secure a spot within the top 50 positions of this vital Asian evaluation list.
An interesting aspect of this release is that this marks the second consecutive year in which no Indian university has managed to break into the top 50 slots of the directory. The country's best-performing establishment, IIT Delhi, has also slipped down to the 66th position in this edition. During the previous year, the very same institution held the 59th spot, indicating a noticeable downward trend in its ranking.
This regression is not limited to IIT Delhi alone, as the standing of all six of India's top-ranked institutions, including IISc Bengaluru, has witnessed a decline. However, when looking at the absolute number of participating universities from the country, the overall picture presents a contrasting trend. The total count of Indian institutions featured in the QS Asia ranking has gone up from 294 last year to 325 in the current list.
With this notable expansion, India has climbed to the second position across Asia in terms of having the highest concentration of listed institutions. The latest ranking also incorporates 34 new institutions from the country, showing that the breadth of higher education is expanding continuously. Therefore, while the rankings of the nation's premier establishments are sliding downward on one hand, the overall quantity of participating institutions is recording an upward surge on the other.
Slide in Rankings of Premier Institutions
Analyzing the institutional standings further, the situation for other major national centers of higher learning appears similarly disappointing. IISc Bengaluru, which held the 64th spot in the previous year, has slipped down to the 79th position in the latest evaluation. Similarly, the ranking of IIT Bombay dropped from 71 to 83. The institution in Madras went down from 70th to 85th, while Kharagpur moved from 77th to the 90th spot, and IIT Kanpur slipped from 77th to the 99th position.
Major traditional universities within the country have also faced similar setbacks in their standings. Delhi University, which stood at the 95th place in Asia last year, has dropped to the 106th position in the current index. Consequently, Delhi University has fallen completely outside the elite top 100 bracket. However, the downward movement is not universal, as institutions like Chandigarh University, Lovely Professional University, and Jamia Millia Islamia have successfully improved their respective rankings this year.
According to the report, the total count of Indian entities in the Asian ranking has multiplied significantly over the past several years. Back in 2016, a mere 24 institutions from the country were part of this compilation. This figure has now surged to 325, translating to a more than 13-fold increase over the span of roughly a decade.
From 2016 up to the present day, this metric has recorded a growth exceeding 1,250 percent. On average, the number of Indian institutions has expanded at an annual rate of about 27 percent. In this specific regard, India has outpaced every other major higher education system in the Asian region. During the same timeframe, the number of Chinese institutions grew by approximately 315 percent, Indonesia by 164 percent, Japan by 44 percent, and South Korea by a modest 30 percent.
The current Asian ranking incorporates a total of 195 new institutions, with 34 coming from India alone. While this continuous expansion strengthens the country's visible footprint, it also brings forth the ongoing challenge of uplifting research impact and institutional rankings alongside mere numerical growth.
India Leads in Research Output across Asia
Amidst the declining ranks of premier campuses, the QS report highlights several positive outcomes concerning India's research capabilities. When it comes to research output, measured by the number of research papers published per faculty member, India stands at the absolute forefront in Asia. Based on this specific faculty indicator metric, 27 universities from the country feature prominently within the top 50 institutions across the continent.
Among these, five universities have successfully secured positions within the top 10, while two have made it into the elite top 5. Furthermore, India maintains a strong standing in another critical parameter involving academic staff quality. In terms of the proportion of faculty members holding PhD-level doctoral degrees, 15 Indian universities share the joint first position across the Asian region, reflecting a solid presence of qualified academic personnel.
