Which College do You Study in?

Muralee Thummarukudy, Neeraja Janaki
Wednesday, November 20, 2019

"Brother, my daughter has finished her engineering course here in Kerala. We wish that she does her higher education in Canada. Which is the best university?"
This is a question I hear frequently.

We have repeatedly told you that, in the 21st century, the institution where you study is more important than your subject of study. But how do students and their parents decide which is a good university?

Does a good college or good university mean good infrastructure and buildings? Or does it mean good teachers or a new curriculum? Or does it imply good students? Or is it all of this or something entirely different?

The answer is not simple. It is rather easy to construct good buildings. Most new generation engineering colleges in Kerala have state-of-the-art infrastructure and external facilities in comparison to the older colleges. It is also possible to hire reputed and experienced subject experts as faculty if you shell out cash. But does this alone create a good college or university?

When you are considering overseas education, things are even more complicated. Very often it is Indian developers themselves who create fantastic websites for anyone for a thousand dollars. So, if you were to choose your educational institution abroad merely based on the information that is given in their chic website and taking it as truth, you would be making a foolish gaffe.

In our opinion, a good college or university has the following qualities:

Brilliant students.
Student intake from various countries.
New and flexible curriculum.
Experienced and reputed faculty members.
Eager placement to excellent organizations.

The details such as the size of the buildings and whether the hostel has AC is rather peripheral and only secondary to the above concerns.

There is no comprehensive ranking system, even internationally, to assess institutions based on these criteria. Therefore, when you begin efforts toward overseas education, you must make extensive enquiries on these lines. There are institutions that rank various universities that can be of aid in this enquiry. Today we will try to acquaint you to some of these here.

Q.S World University Ranking

Quacquarelli Symonds, a British education company, publishes university rankings that assess the performance and popularity of universities across the world. You get to know the ranking based on region, subjects, and courses (say Business Masters, MBA and so on). They also publish a list called 'QS Top 50 Under 50' that has young universities with under 50 years of existence and experience that are in the top 50 ranks.

Time Higher Education Ranking

Times Higher Education is a weekly that publishes news and information on higher education. Their rating is based on international diversity, teaching-learning environment, and research. The ranking is available both subject wise and region wise.

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) or the Shanghai rating is another important ranking system for higher education institutions. It is published by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. The Shanghai ranking is one of the three most influential and recognised along with the Q.S. World University Ranking and the Times Higher Education World University Ranking. Through ARWU, you can assess the quality of education, standard of faculty, research and such crucial domains that matter in determining the quality of an institute of higher education.

If you are trying for higher education abroad, you must scrutinise the website of at least one of these international ranking agencies. The first five hundred institutions in international ranking will be excellent at the various criteria that we enlisted earlier in this article. If you do manage to secure an admission in one of these top tier institutions, there is not much reason for worry. But this is not an easy task either. Most institutions that are suggested by education consultancies are those that are easy to get admission in, and therefore outliers with respect to the first thousand ranks in the context of international rating. These are things that you can verify personally with a little effort.

NIRF

NIRF or National Institutional Ranking Framework, recognised by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, is a rating methodology to assess Indian universities and higher education institutions and determine their ranking. A core committee formed by the MHRD decides the criteria for ranking these institutions. Parameters such as teaching, learning processes, availability of resources, research, placement opportunities, and diversity in student intake (for instance, composition of students from outside the state/country, percentage of women among learners, opportunities for students from economically and socially marginalised communities as well as persons with disabilities) are considered for ranking. It also takes into account the perception of researchers and students about the institutions.

QS I. GAUGE

QS I. GAUGE is a private rating system that is a collaboration of Quacquarelli Symonds and the Indian non-profit ERA foundation. Based on criteria such as teaching and learning, eminence of faculty, placement opportunities, quality of research, and social commitment, they give a descending rating in the order of "diamond plus," "diamond," "gold," "silver," "bronze," and "provisional."

Accreditation

The term accreditation is commonly used in Kerala. You must have come across "UGC Accreditation," "NAAC Accreditation" and so on. What exactly does it mean? How is this different from ranking?

What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is an official recognition given by a recognised agency to an institute of higher education for a certain period of time. Accreditation does not compare one institution with another unlike ranking. So, ten colleges of the same districts may get A Grade or D grade. But if ten C Grade colleges are ranked, one or more will secure first place, wouldn't they? They can also state as a fact that they are the best in the district.

NAAC or National Assessment and Accreditation Council is an agency that provides accreditation to higher education institutions in India. NAAC is an independent body under UGC. There are eight grades (viz., A++, A+, A, B++, B+, B, C, D) that are bestowed based on curriculum, teaching-learning and evaluation, research, basic amenities, student support, as well as governance, leadership, and management of the institution. 'D' grade indicates that the institution has not got accreditation. Institutions that have existed for six years or those from where at least two batches of degree students have graduated can apply for NAAC Accreditation.

NBA or National Board of Accreditation is a similar agency that provides accreditation for technical programs. NBA, unlike NAAC, does not give accreditation to institutions, but to courses. These include diplomas and both undergraduate and postgraduate programs in engineering and technology, pharmacy, architecture, management, and applied art and crafts.

ISO Recognition

The advertisements of some Indian institutions state that they have ISO recognition. Since ISO is International Standard Organization, people tend to mistake this to be an international rating index. But you need to exercise caution here. ISO is not a single standard. There are many standards such as Environmental Management System (ISO 14000 Series), Quality (ISO 9000 Series), Occupational Health (ISO 18000 Series) and so on. If the institution has one of these recognitions, do not mistake it to be an indicator of academic standards. Last year an ISO standard has been instituted exclusively for academic institutions: ISO 21001:2018 (Educational organizations - Management systems for educational organizations). International Universities have not yet recognised this system of ranking. However, this may change in a year or two.

As has been cautioned, do not choose your college for study merely by information available on Google, or their website or even the advice of educational consultancies. You need to spend some time to make this decision. A good university makes it easier to get the first job. Like fine wine, the benefits of it will increase as years pass by. And this includes financial benefits as well. There is no harm at all in investing some quality time to make your choice.