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Full Form of NIRF, National Institutional Ranking Framework

The full form of NIRF is the “National Institutional Ranking Framework”. NIRF allows institutions to compare their performance levels based on a comprehensive set of characteristics & important performance indicators.
authorImageGirijesh Singh12 Oct, 2023
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Full Form of NIRF

What is NIRF?

NIRF stands for National Institutional Ranking Framework. It was founded on 29th September 2015 by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD).

It is an annual ranking and rating exercise undertaken by the Government of India's MHRD. The main motive of NIRF is to categorize higher education institutes and rank them accordingly at the national and state level.

NIRF allows institutions to compare their performance levels based on a comprehensive set of characteristics & important performance indicators.

It aims to make it easy to compare colleges and universities across the country. NIRF Ranking provides you with the benefits to choose the best institute for higher education.

NIRF Ranking Category

NIRF provides a ranking for all institutes in 11 categories. Higher education institutions can apply for the NIRF rankings in one or more categories, based on their areas of expertise. The results and rankings foster healthy competition among educational institutions. It aids in the improvement of overall educational quality and performance.

Check the NIRF Ranking Category for 2023.

  • Overall Ranking
  • University Ranking
  • Engineering Ranking
  • College Ranking
  • Management Ranking
  • Pharmacy Ranking
  • Law Ranking
  • Architecture Ranking
  • Medical Ranking
  • Dental Institutions
  • Research Institutions

NIRF Ranking Parameter

NIRF provides a powerful analytical platform for universities and colleges to analyze their performance. They implement correct parameters to measure the rankings based on the data given.

The NIRF ranking methodology focuses on the overall performance of the institutions rather than any one point or element. As a result, it shows to be a complete tool that provides legal experts with access to dependable and accurate information on higher education institutions.

Below, you can check the NIRF Ranking Parameters which are considered while giving the ranking for a university, college, or institute:

Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR)

TLR is a key metric for universities participating in the National Institutional Ranking Framework. It is a criterion that analyzes the quality of all teaching and learning resources available to students and teachers from various sources such as real or digital libraries, classrooms, and so on. 

In addition, this contributes to a more complete picture of what an institution is doing to assist its students learn.

Research and Professional Practice (RP)

The National Institutional Rating Framework includes Research and Professional Practice as one of its ranking components (NIRF). It assesses how far an institution's research papers have progressed and how they contribute to its growth. 

To assess institutions, this parameter comprehends both quantitative and qualitative components of research.

Moreover, the NIRF Research & Professional Practice standards give a comprehensive picture of academic achievement.

Graduation Outcomes (GO)

Graduation Outcomes (GO) is a component that examines the quality of an institution's programmes in higher education. 

The evaluation procedure considers the number and proportion of students who secured jobs after graduation, pursued higher education possibilities both inside and outside of India. 

This criterion examines how many of its alumni went on to follow these undertakings to ensure that the schools are training successful graduates for their professional pathways.

Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) 

One of the metrics that measure several dimensions of activities is Outreach and Inclusivity (OI).

OI focuses a specific emphasis on improved female representation and other policy-driven activities conducted by an institution to enhance diversity through scholarship programmes, fellowships, and so on.

On the other hand, it assesses how effective these activities are in producing meaningful results such as increasing literacy rates in underprivileged groups of society or increasing access to higher education, among other indicators.

Peer Perception (PR)

Peer perceptions are the opinions of peers on establishments. It takes into account critical characteristics such as faculty participation, capacity to attract professors, and peers' grasp of academic rules.

Through this survey, NIRF collects data from institutes for ranking purposes, which includes specific information about each institute. 

History of NIRF

Although, MHRD launched the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2015. It releases the first ranking in 2016 by focusing on 4 categories namely –

  • Universities
  • Engineering
  • Management
  • Pharmacy

In 2017, the organization released the ranking by including two more categories - Overall & College. At that time almost 3000 institutes in India participated in the rankings.

Moreover, NIRF released its ranking on 3rd April 2018 again in which it was recorded that the number of participating institutes was higher than the previous one.

Year after year, NIRF increased its ranking categories which is now eleven. In 2019, NIRF released a ranking on 8th April 2019 in 9 categories which included Overall, Law, Universities, Architecture, Engineering, Pharmacy, Colleges, Medical, and Management.

In 2020, the number of institutes was 3800 which increased by 20%. For the first time in 2020, dental institutes were ranked in a different category.

The official authority will soon release the NIRF 2023 Ranking.

Conclusion

We hope this article will help you to provide the details of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). However, if you have queries, then ask us through the comment box given below.

[wp-faq-schema title=" Full Form of NIRF FAQs" accordion=1]

Which college is ranked 1 by NIRF?

According to the NIRF Ranking 2022, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras ranked first position in the overall ranking of top institutes in India. In the universities, the Indian Institute of Science ranked 1st in university ranking with 83.57 scores.

What is the NIRF ranking of IIT?

Indian Institute of Technology Madras ranked in 1st position with 87.59 scores. This institute is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Candidates who want to study in engineering 7 research technology can apply for this IIT through, IIT JEE, IIT JAM, or GATE Exam.

How does NIRF rank colleges?

NIRF provides ranking by focusing on 5 parameters. If your college meets all the 5 parameters, then it has a chance to come in the first position.
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