Why BITS Pilani Withdrew From THE World University Rankings?

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani (BITS Pilani) has announced to withdrawal from the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, citing concerns over transparency, methodological rigour, and the need for verifiable benchmarking in higher education evaluation process.

The institute stated that it remains open to re-engaging with THE in the future if the ranking framework evolves towards greater transparency, consistency, and verifiability.

Notably, many Indian institutes including, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, and IIT Roorkee, have opted out of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings since 2020. These institutes had also raised concerns over the ranking’s lack of transparency, disputed indicators linked with research citations, and the opaque black box reputation scores.

The institute stated that BITS Pilani aligns with the broader principle that measurement systems must meet the standards expected of academic governance.

BITS Pilani will no further share institutional and subject-level data required for inclusion in THE rankings from this cycle onwards. The institute will not be featured in the upcoming edition of the THE rankings, including World University Rankings, Asia University Rankings and the Rankings by Subject.

As per the BITS, the evaluation framework must be credible, explainable, and independently verifiable for the reasons including student choice, public trust, academic partnerships and funding priorities.