Cancellation of the class XII school-leaving exam by CBSE, CISCE and most state examination boards in early June for fear of the Covid-19 contagion spreading in crowded examination halls, has now confronted higher secondary students with the hurdle of getting admission into the most aptitudinally and aspirationally suitable undergrad study programme in the right college or university. Currently, according to University Grants Commission data, India hosts 39,931 junior and undergraduate colleges, 979 universities and 10,000 standalone education institutions. At this juncture the country’s 10.4 million higher secondary students are at a critical turning point and obliged to make perhaps the most important stream of study and college/university choice. The annual EducationWorld India Higher Education Rankings (EWIHER) were introduced in 2013 to enable higher secondary school-leavers to make these important choices that will shape their careers and lives. Last month (May) we ranked the country’s most admired private and government autonomous and non-autonomous arts, science and commerce colleges, and engineering colleges. This month’s follow-up issue ranks India’s best private and government universities, Top 100 private B-schools and Top 10 institutes offering most popular degree courses. Over the past eight years since they were conceptualised, the annual EWIHER has evolved into arguably the world’s most detailed and information-rich evaluation survey of higher education institutions. Unlike esoteric jury-determined evaluations, all EW rankings are the outcome of extensive national field surveys. Field representatives of Centre for Forecasting & Research Pvt. Ltd (estb.2000), the well-reputed market research and opinion polls company, interviewed thousands of knowledgeable stakeholders in education —faculty, senior students and industry representatives — and persuaded them to rate higher education institutions under carefully selected parameters of education. Scores awarded by the sample respondents under the parameters were totalled to rank private and public universities and private B-schools in separate silos inter se. In short the EWIHER league tables enable students to significantly narrow the choice of higher education institutions to suit individual aptitudes and aspirations. Producing this issue of EW has been an arduous challenge because of the pandemic mandated lockdown in Bengaluru and Mumbai where our editorial and business offices are sited. For their safety and in the public interest, our staff worked from home around the clock because numerous information-packed league tables had to be repeatedly checked and re-checked for alignment with text matter. This required investment of great stamina and continuous digital communication between our personnel. Many thanks to all of them for their dedication and commitment. However if despite maximum care and diligence, minor typos and statistical errors have crept in, we crave your indulgence.
