KPMG Study: Private Universities Emerge as Serious Contenders to IITs

According to KPMG’s analysis of NIRF 2024 rankings, private universities in India have made significant strides in research, employability, and inclusivity, rapidly closing the performance gap with IITs. Institutions like BITS Pilani, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, and VIT Vellore lead this upward trajectory amidst sustained IIT dominance.

India’s higher education landscape is showing a remarkable evolution, with private universities making rapid progress in quality, research output, and graduate employability, according to a new report by KPMG analyzing the latest NIRF 2024 rankings. While the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) continue to dominate key categories like engineering and research, the report highlights narrowing gaps between these public giants and emerging private institutions.

Key Highlights

IIT Madras led the “Overall” and “Engineering” categories in NIRF 2024, with IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, and IIT Kharagpur maintaining top-five rankings. These institutions contribute over 40% of India’s total Scopus-indexed research publications, reaffirming their leadership in academic excellence.

Private universities have demonstrated faster growth rates across key performance metrics between 2021 and 2024:

Research & professional practice scores increased by 9.6% among private universities compared to 6.8% for IITs.

Employability outcomes improved by 10.3% on average at private institutions, surpassing the 7.1% growth observed at IITs.

Leading private players such as Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, BITS Pilani, and VIT Vellore have significantly boosted their research scores and faculty competence, reflecting investments in research infrastructure and global collaborations.

The inclusivity and outreach scores of private universities have increased by 5.4%, indicating greater student diversity and industry engagement compared to 3.9% growth in IITs.

The report cites an evolving competitive ecosystem with intensified rivalry between IITs, state-funded universities, and a growing cadre of private universities, pushing all institutions toward innovation-driven curricula and enhanced student outcomes.

Regionally, the southern Indian states continue to dominate the top university rankings, though states like Gujarat and Rajasthan are emerging as educational hubs with expanding top-tier private institutions.

KPMG’s findings suggest that while IITs remain benchmarks of quality, private universities are becoming formidable challengers by focusing on research, employability, and inclusivity, offering Indian students broader access to quality higher education. The gap is closing fast, signaling a vibrant future for India’s education sector.

Sources: KPMG India, NIRF 2024, Shiksha, Hindustan Times

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