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learning outcomes in government sheen because of the Pratap
schools and higher ed institutions Bhanu Mehta resignation con-
to rock bottom levels. We believe tretemps, at #5 (3) completing
that the emergence of India’s new the Top 5.
genre of well-funded and profes- Although the Manipal
sionally managed universities Academy of Higher Educa-
not only offers the estimated tion (MAHE, estb. 1953 and
600,000 school and college leav- awarded private deemed uni-
ers who fly to study abroad every versity status in 1993) is sited
year academically comparable off the beaten track and main-
choices at more affordable pric- tains a modest media profile,
es. They also set new standards Lt. Gen. (Retd.) M.D. Ven-
and benchmarks for Central and katesh, the recently (July
state higher education institu- 2020) appointed vice chancel-
tions (HEIs) to emulate. In effect Gen. Venkatesh: unsurprised lor, is unsurprised by MAHE
India’s new age private universi- being consistently voted In-
ties have generated a tide that lifts all obtained from secondary sources dia’s premier private university.
boats. such as Scopus. The perceptual data “In the academic world it’s well-
Against this backdrop of the rising was collected — using digital media known that MAHE’s institutional
popularity of private higher education — through a structured questionnaire growth and development strategy is
institutions within the established and with respondents requested to rate driven by detailed action plans, time-
aspirational middle class, we commis- the universities they are familiar with lines and milestones for academic
sioned Centre for Forecasting & Re- on a ten point scale under ten param- excellence, conducting innovative
search Pvt. Ltd (C fore, estb. 2000), eters,” says Premchand Palety, cutting-edge research, expanding
the well-reputed Delhi-based market founder-CEO of C fore explaining the internationalisation supported by
research and opinion polls company robust institutional ratings and rank- effective management and continu-
to conduct a nationwide survey to as- ing methodology devised by the com- ous engagement with alumni around
sess and rank the country’s most re- pany for the EW 2021-22 private and the world. This awareness within the
puted 157 private universities. government university rankings. academy of excellent institutional
C fore constituted a national sam- With the past academic year se- management and planning is perhaps
ple respondents database of individu- verely disrupted by the still raging Co- the factor behind our consistent high
als with deep knowledge of the acad- vid-19 pandemic, and even the most ranking in all media and official sur-
emy — 2,122 university faculty, 1,136 admired higher education institutions veys,” says Dr. Venkatesh, an alumnus
final year college/university students having little to report except smooth of Mumbai University who served a
and 883 industry leaders. These re- switch to online classes and lectures, distinguished 38-years career in the
spondents were persuaded to rate it’s unsurprising that the 2021-22 medical corps of the Indian Army.
the country’s most well-known pri- sample respondents have not signifi- With top scores under the param-
vate universities on ten parameters of cantly reshuffled top table seating ar- eters of infrastructure and range and
higher education excellence, including rangements. diversity of study programmes, despite
competence of faculty, faculty welfare The Top 5 table headed by the low- every discouragement by successive
and development, research and in- profile Manipal Academy of High- Congress governments committed to
novation, infrastructure, industry er Education ranked #1 for the sixth socialism, over the past almost seven
interface, placements and leader- year in succession, has only one new decades since it was promoted by the
ship/governance, among others. The entrant, viz, the Thapar Institute of legendary Dr. T.M.A. Pai (1898-1979)
perceptual scores awarded by the re- Engineering & Technology, Pati- in 1953, MAHE has steadily built itself
spondents under each parameter were ala promoted to #4 from #7 in 2020- a formidable domestic reputation as
totalled to rank the country’s best pri- 21. BITS-Pilani retains its #2 rank- a fearless litigator for private educa-
vate universities inter se. ing jointly with Amity University tion providers, and an international
“The EW private and government (#3 last year); O.P. Jindal Global reputation for medical education ex-
university rankings league tables are University, Sonipat (Haryana) is cellence (an estimated 25 percent of
based on a mix of objective criteria ranked a notch higher at #3 (4) with all medical practitioners in Malaysia
and perceptions of sample respon- the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute are reportedly alumni of MAHE’s
dents. Objective data, i.e, research of ICT, Gandhinagar (Gujarat) pro- Kasturba Medical College, Ma-
publications of faculty in refereed moted to #4 (5) and Ashoka Univer- nipal). Without much fanfare and
journals and number of citations was sity, Sonipat, which has lost some publicity, MAHE has established five

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