India’s University Rise Expands Beyond IITs, But Internationalisation Remains a Key Challenge

More than half of India’s ranked universities improved their position in the QS World University Rankings 2027, with 18 institutions achieving their highest-ever global ranks. The latest rankings show India’s higher education progress is no longer limited to IITs, but global student and faculty participation remains weak.

India records strong growth in QS World University Rankings 2027 with 52 ranked universities, major gains beyond IITs, improved research impact and employability, but internationalisation remains a challenge.

India’s Higher Education Sector Records Wider Global Progress

India’s higher education system has recorded a strong performance in the QS World University Rankings 2027, with more than half of the country’s ranked universities improving their global positions. The latest rankings show that 52 Indian universities are now featured, compared with only 14 institutions a decade ago, marking a major expansion in India’s global higher education presence.

India is now the fifth most represented higher education system in the world, behind the United States, United Kingdom, mainland China and Germany. Over the last decade, India’s representation in the rankings has increased by 271%, the fastest proportional growth among G20 countries.

According to the ranking outcomes, 26 Indian universities improved their positions, nine remained stable, 15 declined, and two institutions entered the rankings for the first time. Notably, 18 Indian institutions achieved their highest-ever global rankings, signalling broader progress across the university ecosystem.

IIT Delhi Leads India’s Performance

Among Indian institutions, IIT Delhi emerged as the top-ranked university, climbing to 118th position globally. This matches the highest rank ever achieved by an Indian institution, a record previously held by IIT Bombay in 2025.

IIT Bombay was ranked 134th globally, followed by IIT Madras at 170th, IIT Kharagpur at 205th, and IIT Kanpur and IISc Bengaluru jointly at 221st. The University of Delhi remained India’s highest-ranked non-STEM institution, placed at 322nd globally.

While IITs continue to dominate India’s top positions, the larger trend this year is the rise of institutions beyond the IIT system.

Non-IIT Universities Show Strong Momentum

One of the most significant developments in the QS World University Rankings 2027 is the growing success of non-IIT universities. The number of ranked non-IIT institutions has increased from seven in 2017 to 43 today, reflecting a wider transformation in India’s higher education landscape.

Several non-IIT institutions recorded strong improvements this year. Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) rose 94 places to reach 597th globally, while BITS Pilani climbed 93 places to rank 575th. Shoolini University entered India’s top 10 after rising 51 places to reach 452nd globally.

Chandigarh University improved by 49 places to reach 526th, while Jamia Millia Islamia advanced by more than 75 places to reach 686th globally.

According to QS, 13 of the 18 Indian institutions that reached all-time high positions this year were non-IIT universities. This indicates that India’s higher education growth is becoming more distributed across states, private universities, central universities and specialised institutions.

Ranked Indian universities now span 19 states and union territories, compared with only nine a decade ago.

NEP 2020 Reforms Seen as a Key Driver

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the results reflected the impact of reforms introduced under the National Education Policy 2020. He noted that India’s strong performance in global university rankings shows the effect of reforms focused on research, innovation and institutional development.

He also highlighted that institutions such as IIT Delhi achieving record-high rankings show India’s emergence as a global knowledge hub, supported by the talent of its youth and the growing strength of its academic institutions.

The rankings suggest that policy reforms, institutional investments, research focus and stronger industry-academia linkages are beginning to deliver measurable outcomes for Indian higher education.

Research Impact and Employability Improve

India’s performance was particularly strong in areas such as research impact and graduate employability.

India now has 11 universities among the world’s top 100 for citations per faculty, a key indicator of research impact. Six Indian institutions also ranked among the global top 100 for employer reputation.

Bharathiar University, one of the two Indian debutants this year, entered directly into the global top 100 for citations per faculty, ranking 75th worldwide on the indicator.

Graduate employability also emerged as a strong area for Indian institutions. The University of Mumbai climbed 70 places to reach 25th globally for employment outcomes, while the University of Delhi ranked 35th globally on the same indicator.

More than one-third of Indian universities improved their employer reputation score, giving India the second-highest net improvement in Asia on this indicator, behind Taiwan.

This is especially significant for India’s education and skill development ecosystem, as employability, industry readiness and job-linked higher education are increasingly becoming key measures of institutional performance.

India Performs Better Than Several Established Education Systems

India’s university performance stood out in a year when several established higher education systems faced ranking pressures.

While 52% of Indian universities improved their ranking, only 35% of UK institutions and 16% of German universities recorded gains. In the United States, only 13% of ranked institutions improved, while 66% declined.

Mainland China remained one of the strongest-performing major systems, with 72% of its ranked institutions improving and 13 universities entering the rankings.

Globally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) retained the top position for the 15th consecutive year. Stanford University and Imperial College London shared second place, while Oxford and Harvard completed the top five.

Internationalisation Remains India’s Weakest Area

Despite strong improvement in rankings, research impact and employability, Indian universities continue to face major challenges in internationalisation.

QS identified internationalisation as one of the weakest areas for India’s higher education system. Around 90% of Indian institutions recorded no improvement in international student numbers, and only one Indian university ranked among the world’s top 500 for international faculty representation.

This highlights a major gap in India’s ambition to become a global education destination. While Indian universities are improving in research and employability, they still attract relatively fewer international students compared with countries such as Australia, Canada and the UK.

Academic reputation is another area of concern. Only 8% of Indian universities improved on the academic reputation indicator, while 28% declined. This suggests that gains in research output and graduate outcomes are not yet fully translating into stronger international recognition.

India’s Global Education Ambition Needs Stronger Support

India has taken several steps to attract foreign students through initiatives such as Study in India, but challenges remain. These include limited scholarships, infrastructure gaps, international perception issues, global faculty attraction, and the need for stronger academic partnerships.

A NITI Aayog report published earlier this year estimated that India could host 1.1 million international students by 2047, provided key barriers are addressed. This would require focused policy action, better student support systems, improved campus infrastructure and stronger global branding of Indian higher education.

For India to move from being a rising higher education system to a global education hub, universities will need to expand international collaborations, improve student mobility, attract global faculty, and strengthen their research visibility.

A Broader Shift in Indian Higher Education

Commenting on the results, Ashwin Fernandes, Chair of QS India and Vice President for Strategic and International Engagement at QS, said the breadth of progress was especially important. According to him, improvement is no longer limited to a few elite institutions, and long-term investments and reforms are beginning to translate into measurable results.

This marks an important shift in India’s higher education narrative. For years, the story was centred around potential. The latest rankings suggest that Indian universities are now moving towards delivery, performance and global competitiveness.

However, the next phase will be more challenging. India must now convert ranking gains into stronger global reputation, international participation, employability-linked learning and world-class academic outcomes.

Why This Matters for Skill Development and Employability

The latest QS rankings are not only important for universities, but also for India’s wider skill development, vocational education and employment ecosystem.

Higher education institutions are increasingly expected to produce graduates who are research-oriented, globally aware and industry-ready. The improvement in employer reputation and employment outcomes shows that several Indian universities are strengthening their linkages with the job market.

For students, this means better institutional choices, stronger placement possibilities and more globally recognised degrees. For employers, it signals a growing pool of skilled graduates from a wider range of institutions. For policymakers, the results indicate that reforms must continue with a stronger focus on internationalisation, industry partnerships and future-ready skills.

India’s higher education sector has shown clear progress. The next priority must be to make Indian universities not just nationally competitive, but globally preferred.

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