With another invigorating QS India Summit in the rear-view mirror, it’s a good time to reflect on Indian university performance. Where are we seeing Indian institutions improve? What opportunities are available to Indian institutions?
Setting the scene
46 Indian universities are ranked in the QS World University Rankings 2025, with an average rank of 782. Inbound international student mobility is not a major industry in India, with 13,126 Nepalese students accounting for 28% of all of India’s international students.
Over 2,000 students from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the UAE and the US also travelled to study in India in 2021/22. Whilst the international student market has declined by 2% in the most recent year, USA and Zimbabwe have seen 18% and 91% increases respectively in the last year.
Indian performance in the QS World University Rankings
India’s leading universities have made significant improvements in the rankings in the last five years. However, these improvements are not seen across all Indian universities.
Compared to peer countries, India’s average institutional performance is relatively similar to South Africa and China, and better than Brazil. However, with an average rank of 186, India’s top five institutions significantly outperform Brazil and South Africa’s top five institutions. India’s top five have also significantly increased – from 224 in 2024’s edition, up to 186 in 2025.
What is driving the improvement of Indian institutions?
Academic reputation seeing slow but steady development
Significant investments in their research programmes have enhanced the top five Indian institution’s research impact (evidenced in the growing Citations per Faculty score), and this is now beginning to be recognised in the strength of their Academic Reputation. We have seen a steady increase in both of these metrics since 2021.
Employability of Indian graduates improving
The employability of India’s top 5 institutions are mostly keeping pace with Brazil, China and South Africa too. the challenge in this space is to leverage better graduate outcomes to support their platform of a strong employer reputation.
With QS World Future Skills Index data, we can see India’s Skills Fit score is an opportunity for improvement. As we write in the Spotlight focusing on India’s performance in the Index:
“Employers across India are highlighting a critical gap in the workforce’s ability to meet the demands of a rapidly changing economic landscape. While Adaptive Life Long Skills and Human-Centred Leadership are generally seen as meeting expectations, there is a pronounced gap in Entrepreneurial & Innovative Mindset skills. This shortfall underscores a broader challenge for India’s higher education system, which is struggling to keep pace with evolving employer needs.”
To ensure graduates from Indian institutions are ready for the future job market, we recommend that “universities must prioritise embedding creativity, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial thinking into their curricula and foster stronger collaborations with industry to better align education with workforce demands.”
Broadening research networks
The top 5 Indian institutions have also made significant efforts to widen their international research networks – the long-term plan for these institutions should be to leverage these networks to broaden their international staff and student communities. As noted previously, inbound student mobility to India is very low for a country of its size. Leveraging this growing research network and overall reputation will be key should India look to bring in international students.
Engineering and technology are strong subject areas, but more subject diversity required
Indian institutions excel in Engineering & Technology, with a high concentration of top 100 placements in the field. However, broadening their presence beyond engineering would serve the sector well. In the arts and natural sciences, there are very few subjects ranked at all, with few making the top 100.
India’s higher education sustainability performance
Using QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025 data, we can see that Indian universities are currently having the greatest impact in knowledge exchange, environmental sustainability and environmental research.
When we compare performance to peers, the average performance of all Indian universities surpasses those of China and Brazil, but lags behind South Africa’s performance. Impact of Education is one metric where India is particularly behind, indicating a need for more sustainability-related research and further improvement to academic reputation.
If we look at just the top 5 institutions of peer countries (below), we continue to see relative parity, with India falling slightly behind overall. India’s Employability and Opportunities score is particularly strong, another metric bolstered by their strong, and improving, employer reputation. India’s top 5 institutions continue to struggle with Impact of Education, however.
India’s higher education: Rising in rankings, but what’s next?
Indian universities have made notable strides in global rankings, with the top five institutions improving their average rank from 224 in the QS World University Rankings 2024 to 186 in 2025. This rise reflects strong research impact, growing employer reputation, and sustainability initiatives. However, to break into the top tiers of global higher education, institutions must address gaps in subject diversity, employability outcomes, and sustainability-focused education.
From research excellence to research leadership
India’s Citations per Faculty and Academic Reputation scores have been on a steady upward trajectory since 2021, indicating increasing global influence. However, compared to China and South Africa, Indian institutions must now transition from research contributors to global research leaders by:
- Scaling up interdisciplinary collaboration in fields like AI, climate science, and healthcare innovation.
- Increasing publication in high-impact sustainability journals, ensuring global recognition.
- Securing higher research funding, particularly in underrepresented disciplines such as arts, humanities, and social sciences to improve holistic academic performance.
From graduate talent to global workforce powerhouse
The employability of Indian graduates is keeping pace with peers in BRICS nations, yet Employer Reputation remains an area for strategic focus. To elevate India’s standing as a hub for future-ready professionals, universities should:
- Strengthening ties with global employers to open up more international career pathways.
- Enhance industry-integrated learning, ensuring graduates gain the skills demanded by future workplaces.
- Leverage successful alumni networks, promoting the impact of Indian graduates on the world stage.
- Beyond Engineering: Expanding India’s Academic Identity
Indian universities excel in Engineering & Technology, with several institutions securing top 100 placements in these fields. However, limited representation in Arts, Humanities, and Natural Sciences holds back overall rankings and Academic Reputation. To build a more diversified academic brand, universities must:
- Invest in faculty and research in underrepresented disciplines.
- Foster interdisciplinary degrees, merging STEM with social sciences, arts, and sustainability.
- Encourage global collaborations, enabling Indian scholars to contribute to a wider range of academic debates and discoveries.
Sustainability in higher education: A work in progress
India outperforms China and Brazil in Knowledge Exchange, Environmental Sustainability, and Environmental Research but lags behind South Africa in overall sustainability impact. A key challenge lies in the Impact of Education metric, where sustainability-focused education and research output remain limited. To bridge this gap, Indian universities must:
- Increase sustainability-related research funding by 15-20% annually, aligning with global leaders.
- Embed sustainability principles into core curricula, ensuring every graduate has a foundational understanding of climate and sustainability challenges.
- Leverage industry and policy collaborations, positioning Indian universities as thought leaders in sustainability and SDG-driven education.
India’s top universities are on an upward trajectory, proving their strength in research, employability, and sustainability impact. However, the next phase of growth needs a more holistic approach—one that expands academic diversity, strengthens employer reputation, and integrates sustainability at all levels. By making targeted, data-driven investments, Indian universities can elevate their global standing and redefine higher education leadership for the future.
