Six colleges and Cusat among top 100 in NIRF rankings

Six colleges, Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), and Rajagiri Business School in Ernakulam figured in the top 100 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) released by the Ministry of Education on Thursday (September 4).

While Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (RCSS); Sacred Heart (SH) College, Thevara; St. Teresa’s College (Autonomous); Maharaja’s College (Autonomous); and the Mar Athanasius College of Engineering, Kothamangalam; which figured in the last year’s ranking continued to figure in the ranking, Union Christian (UC) College, Aluva, broke into the top 100 this year.

RCSS improved its ranking from the previous year’s 20 to 12, and SH College, Thevara, climbed four places from the previous year’s rank of 48 to 44. However, St. Teresa’s College (Autonomous), Maharaja’s College (Autonomous), and the Mar Athanasius College of Engineering, Kothamangalam, dropped to 60,75, and 92, respectively, from the previous year’s ranking of 46, 53, and 74. UC College, Aluva, was ranked at 96.

In the University category, Cusat rose from the previous year’s rank of 34 to 32, while in the overall category, it broke into the top 50 by improving its rank by one from the previous year’s 51. Rajagiri Business School was ranked 91st in the management category.

“We have been focussing on research and publications and placement, which has reflected in our improved rankings. Besides, instituting scholarships for the economically and socially backward classes has also helped. We will continue to focus on these areas in the future as well,” said M.D. Saju, principal, RCSS (Autonomous).

Sajitha Kurup, internal quality assessment coordinator at St. Teresa’s College (Autonomous), attributed the drop in the college’s ranking to the drop in marks in the domains of research and perception. “We will conduct an analysis and work out ways to address them for improved ranking in the next year,” she said.

Cusat Registrar A.U. Arun said that concerted efforts by all stakeholders helped improve the performance of the university. “We have improved our standing in legal studies to 13 and management studies to 82 nationally. We will continue to make meaningful interventions to further improve our performance,” he said.

K.P. Ouseph, chairman and manager of UC College (Autonomous), said that the college managed to improve its scoring in the category of perception, which had cost the college in the past. We have been concentrating on various parameters for the ranking, including perception, which has helped us to break into the top 100 institutions in the country, he said.