JGU enters list of QS Top 150 'Young' Universities Globally in the QS Young University Rankings 2020

QS Young University Ranking 2020 was released today for universities that have been established in and after 1969. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati established in 1994, Anna University established in 1978 and O.P. Jindal Global University established in 2009 are the only three Indian universities that figure in these young university rankings. JGU is the only private university from India and the only university with a focus entirely on social sciences, arts and humanities to be featured in the QS Young University Rankings 2020.

Mr. Ashwin Fernandes, Regional Director for QS and CEO for QS I-GAUGE said that “India has been making tremendous strides in its higher education system, and this is evident in the outcome of our rankings. I am delighted particularly to note that a young university such as O.P. Jindal Global University has yet again secured another feather in its cap by featuring in the QS Top 150 Under 50 Rankings. It is amongst just 3 universities in India to feature in the top 150 of the world, under the age of 50 years”. He also added “The agility and pace at which private universities like JGU have managed to move ahead in 10 years of its formation is commendable and are a great case study for other institutions, both private and public to emulate. Good, agile and transparent governance, with accountability and transparency at the heart of it, is the way to succeed – and rankings just reflect these sentiments”.          

This ranking of young universities offers a far more nuanced view of universities and higher education institutes that have been set up in the post-modern world, in an environment that quickly embraced information communication technology. Mr. Naveen Jindal, Founding Chancellor of JGU remarked that “this is yet another laurel in the ever-increasing list of achievements of JGU. As a young, private, not-for-profit and philanthropic university, JGU has the ability to quickly adapt to a modern- changing environment through their strategic initiatives and it has used this advantage to its fullest benefit. It is a great tribute to India’s rise in the global league of universities in which our leadership in knowledge creation and research could be established. My heartfelt congratulations to the leadership, students, faculty and staff of JGU.” 

Professor C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor of JGU remarked, “This is a significant achievement for a university that is just 10 years old. It is a great recognition of the passion, commitment and dedication of the faculty members, students and staff of JGU. This achievement is a testament to what is possible in India if we can work on the basis of a collective imagination of institution building. Even within the young university rankings, we still compete with universities which have been in existence since 1969. Even so, we are committed to remain as a university focussed on the social sciences, arts and humanities and professional studies such as law and architecture. We have stayed away from pure and natural sciences, engineering and medicine which makes this achievement even more special and significant”.

JGU is the youngest of the 150 universities under 50 years of age that have been ranked. This is significant because in the QS World University Ranking, universities of all age groups compete with each other and the younger universities face a comparative disadvantage. This means that the University of Oxford, which was established 800 years ago competes with JGU which is just 10 years old. Age does play a critical role in reputation, both amongst academics and the industry, which are key parameters in the QS WUR. 

The QS WUR is relied upon by millions of students annually to make higher education and admissions-related decisions. The rankings are based on a combination of parameters including research output and impact, academic and industry reputation, faculty-student ratio and internationalization.

Earlier on 19th June 2019, QS World University Ranking (WUR) 2020 was released worldwide. Out of more than 28,000 universities in the world, less than 4% were ranked by QS in terms of their performance criteria. 23 Indian universities were ranked this year of which JGU was the sole new entrant.