NIRF 2025 Rankings: IISc Bengaluru, JNU, Manipal Dominate Top University List

NIRF 2025 Rankings: India's education sector made another milestone with the Ministry of Education's release of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025, which is the 10th edition of India's most reliable academic ranking. The rankings this year span 16 categories with a special emphasis on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), considering the increasingly critical role that socially responsible and inclusive education plays.

In the Universities category, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, topped the list for the second time, affirming its supremacy in research and innovation. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, took the second spot, with the Manipal Academy of Higher Education taking the third position. Other institutions among the top 10 are Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University, Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Jadavpur University, and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

NIRF Ranking 2025: Top universities of 2025

Rank 1: IISc, Bengaluru

Rank 2: JNU, New Delhi

Rank 3: Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal

Rank 4: Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Rank 5: University of Delhi, New Delhi

Rank 6: BHU, Varanasi

Rank 7: BITS, Pilani

Rank 8: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore

Rank 9: Jadavpur University, Kolkata

Rank 10: Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

The NIRF platform assesses colleges and universities on several parameters: teaching, learning, research output, outcome of graduations, outreach, inclusivity, and perception, providing students, teachers, and policymakers with a comprehensive picture of institutional performance. In the last decade, NIRF has changed beyond the mere celebration of conventional academic greatness, challenging universities to adopt innovation, diversity, and global competitiveness alongside India's National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.