India Today partnered with the Nielsen Company and conducted the fourth consecutive survey to determine the top universities in India in the Arts, science and commerce streams.
In order to determine the ranks, a formula based on a perception score (from a structured interview conducted among academic experts) and an objective score (factual data furnished by universities) was evolved.
The research was conducted to draw up a list of 170 universities eligible for the survey. Only those universities were considered which offer at least two postgraduate courses in arts, science and commerce. The list was drawn up using published reports, expert recommendations and the Association of Indian Universities handbook.
The parameters for which each universities is judged were then drawn drawn up after consultation with academics and experts from across India. The parameters include university reputation, quality of academic input, faculty, research strengths, student care, infrastructure, innovation, admission procedure, placement record. This year, along with all these the colleges are also judges based on the security arrangements made for students and global exposure.
From February to May 2013, 347 experts (deans, registrars, heads of departments and professors) from different streams across India were shown the list of 170 universities and were asked to rate them on the identified parameters. Each parameter was assigned a weight based on the average importance given by the experts. Hence the most important parameter got the maximum weight and the least, the minimum.
The top 5 colleges across 4 regions are listed as following:
1. Northern Universities
2. Southern Universities
Rank No. | University Name |
6 | University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad |
7 | Osmania University, Hyderabad |
10 | Pondicherry University, Puducherry |
11 | University of Mysore, Mysore |
12 | Andhra University, Hyderabad |
3. Eastern Universities
Rank No. | University Name |
2 | University of Calcutta, Kolkata |
14 | Visva Bharati, Santiniketan |
27 | Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar |
34 | Gauhati University, Guwahati |
36 | Burudwan University, Bardhaman |
4. Western Universities
Rank No. | University Name |
5 | University of Mumbai, Mumbai |
20 | Goa University, Panaji |
24 | SNDT Women's University, Mumbai |
28 | Gujarat University, Ahmedabad |
35 | Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune |
To drive the overall score for the universities, a weightage of 50% was applied to the overall perceptual score and 50% to overall factual scores. After assigning these weights, the overall score was indexed to 100. Thus the methodology of ranking, based on both perception and factual data, provides a comprehensive picture of each university rated.