NIRF Rankings 2025 (OUT): Factors & Top Colleges & Universities for Engineering, MBA, Law & Other Streams

The Ministry of Education has released the NIRF 2025 Rankings, helping students make informed college and university choices. If you are unsure which institution is right for you, understanding the NIRF ranking system can help. This article covers the latest NIRF Rankings, key ranking parameters, scoring criteria, and the factors students should consider before taking admission. Read on to learn how NIRF rankings can guide your college selection process.

NIRF India Rankings 2025

The Ministry of Education, Government of India has announced ranking of colleges and universities, including IITs, IIMs, Medical, Dental and Law colleges under National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), which was started a decade ago in September 2015. The NIRF India Rankings 2025 have been announced in September as in April, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court issued an interim stay on NIRF Rankings, restraining the Ministry of Education and the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) from publishing the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings for the year 2025.

Overall – India Rankings 2025

NIRF Ranking 2025: In the Overall category of NIRF Rankings 2025, IIT Madras retained the top position. IISc Bengaluru secured second place, followed by IIT Bombay in third. IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.

University – NIRF Rankings 2025

Top University in NIRF 2025: In the NIRF Universities Ranking 2025, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru continued to hold the top position. It was followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University in second place, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal in third, and Jamia Millia Islamia among the leading universities in the rankings.

Top Colleges – India Rankings 2025

NIRF 2024 Top Colleges: Delhi University's six colleges have been ranked among the top 10 colleges in India, with Hindu College securing top position and Miranda House bagging the second spot. As many as top five ranks have been grabbed by DU Colleges in the NIRF Colleges Rankings 2025.

Top five Colleges in India 2025

Given below are the list of top five colleges in India as per NIRF Ranking 2025 along with their overall score.

NIRF Ranking 2025 Engineering Colleges

Leading Engineering Colleges: IIT Madras has retained its position as India's top engineering institution for the tenth consecutive year in the NIRF Engineering Rankings 2025. IIT Delhi secured the second rank, while IIT Bombay was placed third.

Check the list below to explore the top five engineering colleges in India as per the NIRF Engineering Rankings 2025.

NIRF Ranking 2025 Management

Top Management Institutes: Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, secured the top spot, followed by IIM Bangalore and IIM Kozhikode. The NIRF Ranking of b-schools was released on September 04, 2025, along with other NIRF 2025 Ranking categories. This year IIM Calcutta has been dethrone from fifth rank by IIM Lucknow in the NIRF 2025 MBA Rankings.

Top five MBA Colleges are listed below, check the list of top 100 MBA colleges in NIRF ranking 2025.

NIRF Ranking 2025 medical colleges

Top Medical Colleges in India- All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi; Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh; and Christian Medical College are the top three medical colleges in India as per the NIRF Rankings 2025.  

Check top five medical colleges in the country.

NIRF Pharmacy Rankings 2025

Top Pharmacy Institutes: 

Jamia Hamdard secured the top position in the Pharmacy category of the NIRF 2025 Rankings. It was followed by the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Hyderabad, and BITS Pilani among the leading pharmacy institutions in the country.

Listed below are the top five pharmacy colleges in India according to the NIRF 2025 Rankings.

NIRF Law Rankings 2025

Top Law Institutes: The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, once again emerged as the top law institute in the country as per the NIRF Law Rankings 2025, followed by National Law University, Delhi, and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

The top five law colleges are listed below, detailed NIRF Law Ranking 2025 List has been here.

NIRF Architecture Rankings 2025

There are around 860 Architecture colleges in India, that offer courses in full-time, part-time, distance-learning, virtual classroom and online mode of study. These colleges provide degree, diploma and certificate courses.

Check list of top five architecture colleges in India.

This article presents all details related to NIRF Rankings 2025 including the parameters used, parameter-scoring criteria, parameters that students should consider for admission and more. Read on for more insights.

Brief History of NIRF

The first India Rankings for colleges and universities were released by NIRF in 2016.

The Government introduced NIRF to create a ranking system that better reflects the priorities of Indian higher education institutions. Many experts felt that global rankings such as QS and Times Higher Education (THE) did not fully capture the strengths and challenges of the Indian education system.

Unlike global rankings, which often emphasize international reputation, foreign faculty, and international student enrollment, NIRF gives importance to factors such as teaching quality, accessibility, inclusivity, research, and opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds. This makes the ranking framework more relevant to the Indian higher education landscape.

Because of this, the Government decided to create a ranking system made for India. This led to the NIRF Rankings framework we have today.

NIRF Ranking Parameters

NIRF provides rankings to universities and colleges in India based on scores obtained by them in five parameters:

• Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR)
• Research and Professional Practice (RP)
• Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)
• Graduation Outcomes (GO)
• Perception (PR)

Each parameter has various sub-parameters based on which higher education institutions are ranked. as mentioned below:

It may be noted that while NIRF ranking parameters remain same for every category (Overall, Engineering, Architecture, Management, Medical, Pharmacy, Dental, Law), there might be some changes in the sub-parameters relevant for a particular category.

Read More:

Top MBA Colleges in India 2025: Ranking, Fees, Admission, Courses, Placements

Importance of NIRF Rankings for Students

India has many higher education institutions that offer different courses to students. But not all of them provide good quality education. Choosing the right college or university is very important for a student’s future.

That’s where the NIRF rankings help. If a college has a good NIRF rank, it means students there get better education and the institute has a strong reputation in the education field.

The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) announced its 2025 rankings in August. This year, the rankings also included Open Universities, Skills Universities, and State Public Universities. A new sustainability criterion was also added to highlight the achievements of different institutions across India.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras kept its top position in the Overall category for the sixth year in a row. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru was named the best university. AIIMS Delhi remained the top medical college, and IIM Ahmedabad continued to lead among MBA institutions.

Also Read: Top Entrance Exams After Humanities for UG & PG Courses

Key Highlights of NIRF Ranking 2025

Since its inception in 2015, NIRF Rankings, also known as India Rankings by the Education Ministry, have gained traction, witnessing increased participation from institutions and expansion into new categories each year.

Categories in NIRF Ranking:

The 2025 NIRF Rankings encompassed 16 categories, including major ones like, "Overall," Universities, Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Law, Medical, Dental, Architecture & Planning, Research Institutions, and Colleges.

Also Read: Highest Paying Career Options For Humanities Students in India

Statistics on NIRF Rankings:

A record number of 7,692 unique institutions responded and offered themselves for ranking under “Overall”, category-specific or domain-specific ranking. In all, 14,163 applications for ranking were made by these 7,692 unique applicant institutions including 4,045 in Overall Category, 1,584 in Engineering, and 4,030 in General Degree Colleges. A noticeable increase in institutional participation in the rankings exercise this year indicates its recognition amongst institutions of higher education in India as a fair and transparent ranking exercise. Number of unique applicants to India Rankings have increased from 2,426 in 2016 to 7,692 in 2025 whereas total number of applications for ranking in various categories have increased from 3,565 in 2016, to 14,163 in 2025 i.e. total increase of 5266 (217% increase) in number of unique institutions and 10,598 (297.3% increase) in total number of applicants.

Notable Top-ranking Institutions:

NIRF Rankings cover various categories such as NIRF Engineering Ranking 2025, Top 10 NIRF colleges, and NIRF MBA Ranking 2025, NIRF Medical Rankings 2025, NIRF Dental Rankings, NIRF Pharmacy Rankings, Top Law Colleges under NIRF Law Rankings and so on.

Also Read: Government Jobs After Humanities Stream

NIRF Rankings – Which Parameters to Consider for Admission?

Candidates can refer the NIRF rankings released annually to choose the best university/college for themselves. However, the question arises, ‘which ranking parameters to consider the most for admission?’

To help answer the question, further we have explained each NIRF ranking parameter in detail:

Also Read: BA vs BBA vs BSW: Which Is Better After 12th Humanities?

Teaching, Learning and Resources

This parameter deals with the teaching and learning resources available with an institution and the way they are utilised. TLR has the following sub-parameters:

• Student strength including doctoral students: This is calculated based on the number of students enrolled in undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD courses offered at the institute
• Faculty-student ratio with emphasis on permanent faculty: This is calculated based on the total number of students enrolled versus the total permanent faculty at the institute. The optimum expected ratio is 1:15, that is, one teacher for every 15 students.
• Combined metric for faculty with PhD (or equivalent) and experience: This is calculated based on the percentage/number of faculty that is PhD qualified
• Financial resources and its utilization: This is calculated based on an institute’s annual average capital and operational expenditure per student for the past three years

Also Read: NIRF College Ranks 2025-26

Graduation Outcome

This is an important parameter that students should consider while securing admission in an institute. This parameter measures the ultimate goal of a university/college. Various sub-parameters under GO include:

• Metric for university examinations: It is calculated based on number of students passing the respective university exams in stipulated time for the course in which enrolled
• Metric for number of PhD students graduated: It is calculated based on the number of students who have completed their PhD from the institute in the last three years

Apart from the sub-parameters mentioned above, the below sub-parameters are also included under GO for few categories such as Engineering, Management and Law:

• Combined % for placement, higher studies and entrepreneurship: It is calculated based on the percentage of graduating students placed through campus placements, selected for higher education or started their own start-ups  
• Median salary: It is calculated based on the median salary of graduates who have passed from the college/university
• Metric for graduating students admitted into top universities: It is calculated based on the number of students who have secured admission in top universities across the globe against the total number of students graduated from the institute

Also Read: Top Delhi University Colleges 2025: NIRF Ranks

Perception

Although this parameter has the least weightage in NIRF ranking framework, it is an important factor to consider at the time of college admissions. The parameter judges the overall perception of the college/university by peers, industry and researchers.

• Peer Perception: Academic peers and employers: It is calculated based on a survey done over a large category of employers, professions from reputed organisations and a large category of academics to capture their preference for graduates of different institutes

Also Read: Top 100 Colleges in India 2025-26

Research and Professional Practice

This parameter measures the quality of research carried out at an institute and the scholarships offered to students.

• Combined metric for publications: This is calculated based on the total publications reported in Web of Science, Indian Citation Index, etc.
• Combined metric for quality of publications: This calculates the quality of publications
• IPR and patents: Published, granted and licensed: This is calculated based on the number of patents granted, published and licensed over last three years
• Footprint of projects and professional practice and executive development programmes: It is calculated based on average research funding earning received at institute level and average annual earnings from full-time executive development programmes in last three years

Outreach and Inclusivity

This parameter majorly deals with the representation of women and other marginalised and minority students in an institution.  

• Percentage of students from other states/countries: As the name suggests, this is calculated based on the total number of students in an institute belonging to other states and countries
• Percentage of women: It is calculated based on the number of women enrolled in an institute as students, faculty and in other administrative jobs. The ideal expectation is to have 50 per cent students and 20 per cent faculty.
• Economically and socially challenged students: It is calculated based on the number of economically and socially challenged students being provided full tuition fee reimbursement by the institute
• Facilities for physically challenged students: It is calculated based on the facilities provided for physically challenged students