Rankings of Top Design Colleges in India 2026
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The ranking of an institute is an indication of its employability, teaching-learning resources, faculty, infrastructure, projects and case study, and innovation.
With the study of design getting more mainstream, there is a corresponding mushrooming of design institutes across the country. However, these institutes are not all equal. As far as rankings are concerned, the NIFTs continue to dominate. For instance, in the India Today rankings, eight of the top ten positions are occupied by NIFTs. This is precisely why a majority of students want to get admission to the NIFTs. The problem, however, is that NIFTs have a limited number of seats. So, those missing out on a seat at the NIFTs may end up looking for options elsewhere. And, how do you find your options? By consulting ranking lists!
Note that the Ministry of Education doesn’t publish any NIRF Rankings for Design, unlike it does for categories like Engineering, Management, Medical, and Law. In its absence, the next best option for the candidate is to depend on ranking lists published by recognized names like India Today, The Week, and Outlook. In this article, we take a look at the rankings of the top design institutes in 2025 published by these institutes and also by other agencies. This will help the candidate make a fair call on which college to apply to. So, let’s dive in.
- Top Fashion Design Colleges in India 2026 - India Today Rankings
- Top 20 Private Colleges of Design: IIRF Ranking 2025
- Rankings of Design Colleges 2026 - QS World Rankings
- QS World Rankings of Design Colleges 2025
- Top Design Colleges in India 2022 - Outlook and The Week Rankings
Top Fashion Design Colleges in India 2026 - India Today Rankings
Check the table below for Top Fashion Design Colleges- India Today rankings 2021-2025.
| Name of the Institute |
India Today Ranking 2025 |
India Today Ranking 2024 |
India Today 2023 Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
1 |
1 |
|
| 3 |
2 |
2 |
|
| 2 |
3 |
3 |
|
| 5 |
5 |
4 |
|
| 6 |
6 |
6 |
|
| 6 |
8 |
7 |
|
| 4 |
5 |
5 |
|
| 8 |
7 |
8 |
|
| 10 |
9 |
9 |
|
| NIFT Jodhpur |
9 |
10 |
10 |
| 12 |
12 |
11 |
|
| 13 |
14 |
14 |
|
| 15 |
16 |
15 |
|
| 11 |
11 |
13 |
|
| 14 |
15 |
16 |
|
| - |
13 |
12 |
|
| 17 |
18 |
18 |
|
| 16 |
17 |
17 |
|
| - |
19 |
20 |
|
| 18 |
20 |
19 |
|
| 21 |
22 |
22 |
|
|
|
- |
26 |
|
|
|
28 |
- |
|
| 19 |
- |
23 |
|
| 20 |
- |
24 |
|
| - |
- |
28 |
|
| - |
- |
29 |
|
| - |
- |
27 |
|
| - |
- |
- |
|
| Department of Fashion Technology, Sona College of Technology, Salem |
- |
- |
30 |
| - |
- |
33 |
|
| - |
- |
31 |
|
| - |
- |
32 |
|
| - |
- |
34 |
|
| - |
- |
41 |
|
| - |
- |
40 |
|
| - |
- |
37 |
|
| - |
- |
- |
|
| - |
- |
43 |
|
| - |
- |
39 |
|
| - |
- |
46 |
|
| Department of Fashion and Textiles IIS, Jaipur |
- |
- |
- |
|
|
- |
44 |
|
|
|
- |
45 |
|
| Department of Costume Design & Fashion Kongu Arts and Science College, Erode |
|
- |
47 |
|
|
- |
48 |
|
| Department of Fashion Designing Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya Chandrapur, Chandrapur |
|
- |
49 |
|
|
- |
42 |
|
|
|
- |
51 |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
|
| - |
- |
- |
|
| - |
- |
- |
Top 20 Private Colleges of Design: IIRF Ranking 2025
Check out the top 20 Private colleges of Design.
|
All India Rank(Survey & Perceptive Based)
|
Name of Institutes | State | State Rank | Overall Index Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Karnavati University, Unitedworld Institute of Design, Gandhinagar | Gujarat | 1 | 80.17 |
|
2
|
Woxsen University, Woxsen School of Arts and Design, Hyderabad | Telangana | 1 | 79.83 |
|
3
|
Amity University, Amity School of Fashion Technology, Noida | Uttar Pradesh | 1 | 79.27 |
|
3
|
TDV - The Design Village, Noida | Uttar Pradesh | 1 | 79.29 |
|
4
|
NMIMS University, NMIMS School of Design, Mumbai | Maharashtra | 1 | 78.8 |
|
5
|
IIFD Chandigarh - Indian Institute of Fashion and Design, Chandigarh | Punjab | 1 | 78.56 |
|
6
|
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal School of Architecture and Planning, Manipal | Karnataka | 1 | 78 |
|
7
|
Chitkara University, Chitkara School of Planning and Architecture, Patiala | Punjab | 2 | 77.61 |
|
8
|
Parul University, Parul Institute of Design, Vadodara | Gujarat | 2 | 77.16 |
|
9
|
MIT-ADT University, MIT Art, Design & Technology University, MIT Institute of Design, Pune | Maharashtra | 2 | 76.72 |
|
10
|
Avantika University, Ujjain | Madhya Pradesh | 1 | 76.38 |
|
11
|
UPES, School of Design, Dehradun | Uttarakhand | 1 | 75.91 |
|
12
|
Nirma University, Institute of Design, Ahmedabad | Gujarat | 3 | 75.38 |
|
13
|
AID - Apeejay Institute of Design, New Delhi | Delhi | 1 | 74.81 |
|
14
|
Suryadatta Institute of Design, Pune | Maharashtra | 3 | 74.41 |
|
15
|
B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Crescent School of Architecture, Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 1 | 74.1 |
|
16
|
Poornima University, Faculty of Design and Arts, Jaipur | Rajasthan | 1 | 73.6 |
|
17
|
Pearl Academy, Mumbai | Maharashtra | 4 | 73.12 |
|
18
|
WUD- World University of Design, School of Design, Sonipat | Haryana | 1 | 72.68 |
|
19
|
Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, School of Design, Faridabad | Haryana | 2 | 72.22 |
|
20
|
IIFD Kolkata - Indian Institute of Fashion & Design, Kolkata | West Bengal | 1 | 71.76 |
Rankings of Design Colleges 2026 - QS World Rankings
QS World University Rankings are published by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). QS Rankings are considered among the most reliable, along with Academic Ranking of World Universities and Times Higher Education World University Rankings. QS World University Rankings for Arts and Design 2025 is out now.
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QS World Rankings of Design Colleges 2025
The QS World University Rankings for Art & Design are as follows:
| Name of the Institute |
Ranking |
Score |
|---|---|---|
| Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom | 1 | Overall Score: 97.4 |
| University of the Arts, London, United Kingdom | 2 | Overall Score: 93.8 |
| The New School, New York City & Paris | 3 | Overall Score: 92.1 |
| Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) location Providence, United States |
4 | Overall Score: 91.6 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) location Cambridge, United States |
5 | Overall Score: 88.9 |
| Politecnico di Milano, Milan,, Italy | 6 | Overall Score: 84.4 |
| Pratt Institute, New York City, United States | 7 | Overall Score: 84 |
| Aalto University, Espoo, Finland | 8 | Overall Score: 82.8 |
| School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, United States | 9 | Overall Score: 82.4 |
| Design Academy Eindhoven, Eindhoven, Netherlands | 10 | Overall Score: 81.4 |
Explore more Design exams with upcoming dates
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Top Design Colleges in India 2022 - Outlook and The Week Rankings
Top design colleges in India are:
Name of the Institute |
Ranking |
|
|---|---|---|
| The Week 2020 |
Outlook 2019 |
|
| NIFT Delhi |
1 |
2 |
| NIFT Mumbai |
- |
1 |
| NIFT Bangalore |
2 |
4 |
| NIFT Chennai |
3 |
5 |
| NIFT Patna |
6 |
8 |
| NIFT Gandhinagar |
4 |
- |
| NIFT Hyderabad |
5 |
7 |
| NIFT Kolkota |
7 |
6 |
| Pearl Academy New Delhi |
8 |
3 |
| Symbiosis Institute of Design (SID), Pune |
- |
20 |
| NIFT Raebareli |
- |
- |
| NIFT Shillong |
9 |
- |
| Army Institute of Fashion and Design |
11 |
14 |
| Pearl Academy Jaipur |
- |
- |
| Amity Institute of Fashion Technology, Noida |
- |
15 |
| NIFT Kangra |
- |
- |
| JD Institute of Fashion Technology |
14 |
- |
| NIFT TEA |
- |
10 |
| MKSSSs School of Fashion Technology Pune |
- |
- |
| Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar |
- |
- |
| Manipal School of Architecture and Planning |
13 |
- |
| Fashion and Apparel Design, T.John College |
- |
17 |
| Vogue Institute of Art and Design |
- |
22 |
| Pearl Academy Mumbai |
- |
25 |
| IMS Design and Innovation Academy |
15 |
24 |
| Whistling Woods International, Mumbai |
- |
- |
| PSG College of Arts and Science |
- |
- |
| Amity School of Fashion Technology, Lucknow |
16 |
19 |
| Axis Institute of Fashion Technology |
- |
- |
| North India Institute of Fashion Technology |
- |
9 |
Sayeba Naushad is a commerce postgraduate from Banaras Hindu University. She has over five years of experience in content writing and editing. She has a nose for current events in design field. At Shiksha.com, she s
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