CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras topped the overall National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) list for 2021. With this, Tamil Nadu has emerged one of the leading states in higher education sector in India as a total of 19 institutions from the State have made it to the top 100 in the list, released by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday.
Tamil Nadu has a substantial share of higher education institutions among the top 50 in NIRF list 2021. There are 9 higher education institutions from Tamil Nadu among the top 50 in the overall-category list, 12 among the top 50 in the university list, and 8 among the top 50 in engineering colleges list. Similarly, at least 16 Tamil Nadu colleges are among the top 50 in NIFR college listing and 10 colleges from the State have made it to the top 50 medical colleges.
IIT-Madras ranked number one in India in both ‘overall’ and ‘engineering’ categories. In the newly launched category of ‘Research Institutions,’ IIT Madras was ranked 2 in the country, behind only Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.” Though IIT-Madras has managed to retain its position in the NIRF, things are not the same with other higher education institutions in the State.
The overall number of institutions from the State in the top 100 list has increased, but their rankings have dropped. Last year, Anna University ranked 20 in the overall category but this year its rank has dropped to 25. Similarly, University of Madras ranked 47 this year but ranked 41 last year. Bharathiar University ranked 22 this year but ranked 21 last year. But NIT-Trichy improved its performance, jumping from 24 last year to 23 this year.
Chennai’s Loyola College has significantly improved its ranking as it has emerged as the third best college in the country after Delhi’s Miranda house and Lady Shri Ram College. Loyola college ranked sixth in the college category list last year.