Overview

• Western Sydney University retained the top spot in THE Impact Rankings 2025 for the fourth consecutive year, as Asian institutions claimed 22 of the top 50 positions.
• THE Impact exercise assessed over 2,000 universities on UN Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting South Korea’s Kyungpook National University at third and Indonesia’s Universitas Airlangga at joint ninth.
• Only two Indian universities—Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (41) and Lovely Professional University (48)—made THE’s top 50, with a total of four appearing in the top 100.
• The QS World University Rankings 2026 featured a record 54 Indian institutions, a 390% rise over the past decade, led by IIT Delhi’s jump to a joint 123rd place.
• Seventy-eight percent of Indian universities saw declines in the QS International Student Ratio metric, underscoring persistent challenges in attracting overseas students.