Best Universities Rankings 2025

India Today

3 days ago

The India Today-MDRA best universities survey reveals a new dynamism in the higher education ecosystem, marked by stability as well as churn
India's higher education sector is a behemoth in flux. It's ambitious, overcrowded and, paradoxically, under-resourced. Yet, it continues to produce islands of excellence amid the chaos. The india today-MDRA Best Universities Survey 2025 captures this complex terrain with an evaluative lens that is at once empirical and perceptive, rendering it the most credible assessment of the country's university ecosystem. Now in its 16th year, the survey has become a benchmark for policymakers, recruiters, students and university leaders alike, not just for its rankings, but for what those rankings reveal about direction, aspiration and institutional agility.
At its core, the survey offers more than a ranking. It demonstrates that excellence in Indian universities is an ongoing project—constantly being built, reimagined and, often, rediscovered. That's what the university rankings in the general category reflect this year. Among the government universities in the general category, the University of Delhi (DU) occupies the pedestal for the first time, displacing Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which had monopolised that perch since 2018. DU, which had ranked second since 2021, has now emerged as the benchmark for excellence in the public university space.
DU's ascent to the top reflects not only the consolidation of its academic and research output but also the success of its institutional reforms and improvements in infrastructure, student engagement as well as placement performance. On a broader scale, it reflects a trend where older, multi-college public universities are reclaiming academic prominence amid India's shifting higher education landscape.
Meanwhile, Aligarh Muslim University has mai­ntained a steady upward trajectory, entrenched in third place since 2021, while the University of Hyderabad has remained firmly in the top four despite minor fluctuations. Osmania University has shown consistent improvement over the years, despite periods of non-participation, and ranks fifth this time. Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, which made an appearance only in 2021, has rapidly climbed to sixth place in this year's list. Bharathiar University and Acharya Nagarjuna University, on the other hand, have demonstrated remarkable long-term progress, moving up from 18th and 14th positions in 2018 to ninth and 10th, respectively, this year, mirroring the shift toward regional institutions gaining national academic recognition. HALLOWED GROUNDS: Students at Delhi University. (Photo: Arun Kumar)
THE PRIVATE SPACE
The 2025 Best Universities survey reflects a major churn at the top tier of private general universities. The SRM Institute of Science & Technology in Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, emerges as the new No. 1 for the first time since the rankings began, a significant leap from its fourth rank in 2021. Symbiosis International University, Pune, which held the top spot in 2024, has dropped to second place, while Amity University, Noida, a consistent leader from 2019 to 2023, has slipped to third. CHRIST University, Bengaluru, once a front-runner (No. 1 in 2018), continues its gradual descent, coming in fourth this year.
The Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KL University) has demonstrated strong upward momentum, jumping from ninth position in 2018 to fifth now. Banasthali Vidyapith maintains its position in the top six, while Sathyabama and JAIN Universities show consistency in the mid-tier ranks. Galgotias University has made a significant climb from 18th place in 2018 to ninth in 2025. XIM University, which was not ranked until 2020, continues its steady presence in the top 10.
The rankings in the medical category reveal a strong consistency at the top, even as new institutions have emerged over the years. AIIMS Delhi retains its unbroken streak at No. 1 from 2018 through 2025, underscoring its unmatched reputation, academic excellence and healthcare leadership. Following closely are JIPMER Puducherry and King George's Medical University, Lucknow, which have also held on to the second and third positions, respectively, since their introduction in the rankings in 2019.
Between 2018 and 2025, newer AIIMS institutions have come to occupy the top rungs in the ladder. AIIMS Jodhpur thus appears in fifth place in 2025, while AIIMS Bhopal debuts at rank 6. AIIMS Rishikesh, Raipur and Patna, too, inhabit the top 10, at ranks 7, 9 and 10, respectively. The entry of specialised institutes such as NIMHANS, Bengaluru (No. 4) and the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi (No. 8) points to how medical excellence has expanded beyond general medical colleges to include research-oriented super-specialty centres.
THE TECH LANDSCAPE
When it comes to technical universities, it's no surprise that an Indian Institute of Technology rules the top. The surprise is that it's IIT Delhi that has sat firmly in the lead for five years running (2021-2025), since its rise from second place in 2018. IIT Bombay, although consistently among the top three, has slipped from No. 1 in 2018 to No. 3 this year. IIT Kanpur continues to be in second or third spot ever since it left fourth place in 2021. IIT Kharagpur, once a powerhouse that held the crown in 2018, has slipped to fourth place in 2025.
IIT Roorkee entered the top five for the first time in 2024 and is holding steady this year. Below it is IIT Guwahati, which has consistently ranked sixth since 2023 but was fourth in 2020. IIT Mandi is another institute that has shown steady improvement since its appearance in the rankings. Non-IITs are making their mark, too, with Delhi Technological University (DTU), IIIT Bangalore and BITS Pilani finding a place in the top 10 since at least 2020.
And what of the law universities? The rankings here highlight the sustained leadership of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, which has never taken leave of its numero uno status. The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, displays the same consistency a rung below, a position it has held every year since it re-entered the rankings in 2021.
This year's survey also introduces a critical innovation: the 'Most Improved Universities' ranking. For the first time, universities have been evaluated not merely on the basis of their current standing but also by how far they have come—from 2020 to 2025—factoring in the percentage rise in their relative rankings. This innovation has brought in a new dynamism in rankings, giving a chance to those universities that may have started from a lower base but have displayed consistent upward mobility. No longer content to be peripheral players, these universities are aggressively competing on metrics that matter, from research output, faculty strength, campus development, digital innovation to industry engagement. And in doing so, they are challenging the long-standing hegemony of legacy institutions.
By readjusting the focus from pedigree to progress, the new list incentivises resilience, adaptability and long-term reform, and marks a celebration of institutional evolution. Such methodological innovations have helped the india today Best Universities Survey emerge, over time, as the most authoritative and trusted barometer of higher education in India. Its credibility rests on its dual assessment system, combining objective performance indicators (based on audited data, faculty quality, research output, infrastructure and placements) with perception scores (derived from surveys of faculty, students, recruiters and alumni). The survey is also particular about strict verification standards, ensuring transparency and eliminating data misrepresentation, a frequent concern in rankings.
More than anything, the survey stands apart for its nuanced rankings: separating general, technical, medical and law universities, and further distinguishing between government and private institutions. This disaggregation allows for a fairer comparison and helps students make more informed choices. In capturing not just who leads, but who's also catching up, the survey reflects both stability and churn. By combining empirical rigour with perceptive insight, and spotlighting not just excellence but evolution, the survey affirms one thing clearly: the future of Indian higher education will be shaped as much by ambition and adaptability as by reputation.
METHODOLOGY | How the universities were ranked
With 655 general, 79 medical, 192 technical and 27 law universities to choose from, the India Today Group's annual ranking of Best Universities has a special place in the country's academic calendar. It not only makes critical career decision easier for aspirants based on rich information and data, but also provides an overview of the state of university education to other stakeholders—recruiters, parents, alumni, policy makers and people at large.
India today's knowledge partner Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA), a reputed research agency, followed a rigorous methodology while doing this survey between March-July 2025. During objective ranking, MDRA has carefully attuned 125+ attributes to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparison of universities. These performance indicators were clubbed into five broad parameters—'Reputation & Governance', 'Academic & Research Excellence', 'Infrastructure & Living Experience', 'Personality and Leadership Development' and 'Career Progression and Placement'. The ranking was done based on the latest data provided by the universities.
A list of 775-plus qualifying universities fulfilling the criteria was prepared. Postgraduate courses under four streams—general, medical, technical and law—were considered for evaluation. Only universities offering full-time, in-classroom courses and having churned out minimum three pass-out batches by the end of 2024 qualified for ranking.
Experts with rich experience in their fields were consulted to frame the parameters and sub-parameters for respective categories of universities. Indicators were meticulously determined, and their relative weights were finalised.
A comprehensive objective questionnaire was sent to qualifying universities and also uploaded on the MDRA website. As many as 176 universities provided their data along with voluminous supporting documents within the stipulated deadline.
After receipt of the objective data from universities, a detailed scrutiny of the supporting documents was done. Data was verified by every possible means. An objective score was given to each university under the five indicators. While computing objective scores, it was ensured that aggregate data alone is not used and hence data were normalised.
A perceptual survey was carried out among well-informed 302 respondents—28 chancellors/ vice-chancellors, 72 directors/ deans/ registrars, 202 senior faculty (professors and head of the departments)—across more than 20 cities divided into four zones. North – Delhi-NCR, Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh
West – Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Indore
South – Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Coimbatore
East – Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Patna
National and zonal rankings were taken from them in their respective field of experience and were given 75 per cent and 25 per cent weightage, respectively. They also rated the universities on a 10-point rating scale on each of the five key parameters. The total scores arrived from the objective and perception survey were added in the ratio of 50:50 to get the total combined score.
Most Improved Universities
A new category called 'Most Improved Universities' has been added to the india today-MDRA Best Universities Survey 2025. It highlights universities that have made the most progress over the past five years. The ranking is based on how much a university's position has improved in the annual rankings from 2020 to 2025, measured by percentage rise in rank. The university with the biggest jump is ranked first, followed by others in order of their improvement.
The MDRA core team led by Abhishek Agrawal (Executive Director) included Abnish Jha (Project Director), Vaibhav Gupta (Deputy Research Manager), Kamaldeep Kaur (Assistant Research Executive), Robin Singh (Assistant Research Executive) and Manveer Singh (Assistant Manager EDP).