Shimla, Sept 5 – The latest National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025 has once again exposed the weak underbelly of Himachal Pradesh’s higher education sector.
While big names like IIT Madras, IISc Bengaluru, and IIM Ahmedabad continue to dominate the national stage, Himachal’s universities barely scrape into the list.
The only bright spot comes from the private sector. Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences (Solan) managed to enter the national university rankings, sitting somewhere around the 69th spot overall, according to ranking compilations. But that’s as far as Himachal’s presence goes in the university category.
Among government-run institutions, IIT Mandi holds the fort with an engineering rank of 31, faring better than some private competitors like Chandigarh University.
Yet beyond this, the state’s public universities – including Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Central University Dharamshala, and others – are missing from the top 100 altogether.
Even in the State Public Universities category, Himachal registers only through its agricultural university (CSK HP Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur).
While the agri-campus has earned recognition in its niche, it highlights the absence of Himachal’s mainstream universities from the national conversation on academic quality.
A Harsh Reality Check
The NIRF exercise looks at teaching, research output, graduation outcomes, and perception.
Himachal’s poor showing across these parameters reflects chronic issues – underfunded labs, patchy research culture, faculty crunch, and lack of global outreach.
Educationists say that while the state has expanded access to higher education in terms of numbers, quality has failed to keep pace.
Most universities are still weighed down by routine teaching and exam systems, with little emphasis on innovation or employability.
The Road Ahead
With students increasingly migrating out of the state for better-ranked institutions, the pressure is now on the government and universities to raise standards.
Without serious reforms in funding, research incentives, and faculty development, Himachal’s higher education sector risks becoming irrelevant in national rankings.
For now, Shoolini and IIT Mandi may offer a silver lining, but the glaring absence of HPU, CU Dharamshala, and other state universities from the NIRF 2025 charts is nothing short of a wake-up call.
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