Kolkata: IIT Kharagpur, Jadavpur University (JU), and Calcutta University (CU) are the only three higher education institutions from West Bengal featured in the 52-strong nationwide list for the QS World University Rankings 2027. While IIT Kharagpur improved its rank, JU and CU experienced a decline in their positions.
IIT Kharagpur Climbs 10 Spots
IIT Kharagpur climbed 10 spots from last year's 215th position to 205th this year globally. The first IIT in India also ranked fourth among all IITs. "Entering our platinum jubilee year, IIT Kharagpur is evolving from India's first IIT into a globally networked institute, shaping the future through frontier research, deep-tech innovation and societal impact," said IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty. "Our focus is not only on climbing up in the rankings but also on creating a new benchmark for what a world-class university from the Global South can achieve. The rankings should follow."
JU and CU See Decline
JU is now positioned between 721 and 730, down from last year's 676. CU's new rank is in the 901-950 band, also lower than last year's position between 771 and 780.
Factors Behind Drops
The QS World University Rankings, published annually by London-based Quacquarelli Symonds, assess universities based on criteria including academic reputation, faculty-student ratio, employment outcome, sustainability, citations per faculty, employer reputation, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio.
For JU, problem areas include international faculty ratio, international student ratio, citations per faculty, academic reputation, and employability. Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee said, "We saw a marginal dip in the rank. We do not have any dearth of internal merit and talent. The main obstacle towards excellence is the funds shortage. Recruitment was stalled for years as there was no permanent VC. We are working on improving the rankings by concentrating on areas that need immediate attention. I congratulate all the stakeholders for this achievement."
For CU, parameters where its score suffered include citations per faculty, academic reputation, employer reputation, international research network, and international student ratio. VC Ashutosh Ghosh said, "We will analyse the areas that need to be strengthened to score better next time."
