Reasons why Indian Universities are not in top 100 in World University Ranking 2018

Times Higher Education's World University Rankings for 2018 were released yesterday. Not only none of the Indian University was featured in top 100 but also, may have dropped down from their previous year's rankings.

In the list only 30 Indian Universities were able to mark their spot in the list with only Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore to appear in the club of 251-300.

IIT-B was placed in the band of 351-400 and four other IITs were placed in the band of 501-600.

Below are some of the reasons why Indian Universities are falling behind in international rankings:

International Faculty and International Students

Both ranking systems, THE and QS, consider the proportion of international students and faculty as factor in determining the world ranking and Indian Universities fall short in both proportions.

This year, in the Times ranking, the top spot was secured by Oxford University with 38% students from India and IISC Bangalore has only 1% population of international students.

Research volume and citation

The rankings also depend on the research output of the institute, citations, received by the faculty, research funding and ration of students and teacher and various other parameters.

When it comes to research funding and citations, Indian institutions are again at the receiving end. As most of the premier institutes cater only to engineering and management disciplines this reduces the volume, variety and scope of research.

The research citations are relatively low from Indian Universities because the intake of the students and corresponding faculty in Indian Universities are smaller when compared to the top universities of the world.

It goes without saying that the Indian Education system along with the Indian Universities need a complete makeover with more focus on research, research funding and international exposure if India wants its universities in the top 100 in the near future.