2 Indian universities get ‘gold’ status in Times Higher Education Online Learning Rankings 2024

For India, two universities have bagged a place in the gold category, i.e. Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies and OP Jindal Global University. Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences is the only Indian university to bag a ‘silver’ place.

A total of four Indian universities have found a place in the bronze category: Amity University (Noida), KL University, Lovely Professional University (LPU), and Manipal University (Jaipur). Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune and GLA University have been listed in the ‘reporter’ category — a total of 64 varsities are given ‘reporter status’ as they submitted data but did not meet the full entry requirements.

It should be noted that there is also no global agreement on the definition of online learning. THE has explained that this pilot ranking measures only the parts of universities that deliver online learning, which means the courses are advertised as “online” and at least 40 per cent of the content is delivered online.

In this pilot edition, THE used 17 metrics grouped into four pillars: resources, which measures the staff and resources devoted to online learning; engagement, which has six metrics, including student survey responses to compare the level of student engagement; outcomes, which measures student progression and whether they would recommend it to others; and environment, which tracks inclusion, diversity and support levels.

The US’ University of Central Florida (gold) is top globally for resources, while New Zealand’s Massey University (gold) achieves the highest scores for both engagement and environment. Ukraine’s Sumy State University is awarded silver but gains the highest score globally for outcomes. Among those awarded gold, India’s O.P. Jindal Global University achieves the best outcomes score.

The official note also claims that the most consistent performer in the gold category is India’s Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies; it is the only university to score above 60 out of 100 in all four pillars.