05 September,2025 12:28 PM IST | Mumbai | Aditi Alurkar
The University of Mumbai bagged a perfect score in the metric of graduating students, women’s diversity, and facilities for the physically challenged. File pic
The University of Mumbai (MU) has regained its position among the country's top 100 âoverall' educational institutions by securing the 92nd rank at a score of 49.80 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) - which is released by the Union ministry of education - after slipping to the 100-150 bracket last year. The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) came third on the overall list, which was topped by its Madras counterpart.
This year, the university scored the highest in the Graduation Outcomes (GO) category, bagging 88.25 on a scale of 100. The category simply assesses the average number of students who pass the university examinations on time and the average number of PhD graduates. The next best performance was seen in MU's Teaching & Learning Resources at 64.43, after considering student strength, faculty-student ratio, the PhD faculty, online education, student entry-exit infrastructure, and utilisation of financial resources, among other things. The category of Outreach & Inclusivity came in third at 58.88.
However, the university took a hit in the category of Research and Professional Practice at 19.54, which largely assesses the university's quality of publications, patents, IPRs, and footprint projects, among others. Lastly, the university scored the lowest, at only 10.73, in Peer Perception when compared to overall universities, which surveys the opinions of employers and professionals across various sectors. However, the state university's performance showed an increase in all these categories compared to its 2023 performance.
For 2025, the university bagged a perfect score in the metric of graduating students, women's diversity, and facilities for the physically challenged, while it scored a near-perfect 18.87 out of 20 in the faculty-student ratio.
The state university took the hardest hit in IPR and Patents, Footprints of Projects and Professional Practice (measuring research funding earning, consultancy earning, etc), Regional Diversity of students from other states and countries, and perception. Compared to its performance in 2023, the university's score for online education saw a steep rise.
While MU bagged the 92nd rank in the overall category, which considers national institutes like IITs and medical colleges too, MU rose to rank 54 in the only âUniversity' category where its perception score rose to 37.51 and rank 12 in the State Public University Categories where its perception was scored 48.43.
FacultySpeak
Dr Ravindra Kulkarni, Vice-Chancellor, Mumbai University, told mid-day that the reason for MU's success was the University Department Ranking Framework, where MU's core team ranks its departments, being aligned with the NIRF.
"We have been following this practice for the past two years," he said.
Asked whether MU can expect growth in the field of research, he said, "To improve in this parameter, we are also incentivising departments that perform well when it comes to research, while aiding those who lag. We are also felicitating researchers who have been published in renowned journals. Science departments happen to be more focused on this aspect. However, we are encouraging research opportunities for departments like Social Sciences and Philosophy, too.
Asked how MU plans to improve perception, he said, "Legacy institutes have to bear the brunt of both positive and negative perception. At the moment, MU focuses on word of mouth and is not very focused on branding like private institutes. We are trying to make positive changes which reach our students, like connections with the consulate, government internships, apprenticeships, and more. A public university faces many challenges, especially when it is as large as MU; however, our attempts are to improve and learn with every slip-up."
Principal Dr Ajay Bhamre, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Mumbai, told mid-day, "Mumbai University has made a huge improvement in the university rankings, including the general ranking. It is a great leap forward to be ranked first in the traditional university rankings in the state. With the help of all the teachers and stakeholders of the university, MU is making great efforts to improve the ranking in the future."
