Anna University, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, is the third largest University in Tamil Nadu, and offers courses in Engineering, Technology, Architecture and Applied Science. It was established in the year 1978 by merging four well-known technical institutions in the city of Madras (now Chennai). 

It has also been recognised by the University Grants Commission as a “University with Potential Excellence (UPE)” for having developed research and development activities in Biomedical Engineering and Applications. In addition, the University Library has been ranked 7th in the e-resources usage, all over India, and stands at 1st rank in Tamil Nadu. 

In the country-wide ranking, Anna University ranks 14th in the overall category and 7th in the universities category as per the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework), having fallen three rungs from the previous annual scores. However, it has consistently made an appearance in the Top Ten of the NIRF List since 2017. 

It also made an appearance in the Outlook I-CARE TOP 100 rankings in 2019 as 13th, with a score of 85.90, narrowly beaten by the IIT- Indore. 

Agency Year Rank
NIRF 2019 7th (Universities Category) out of 200
14th (Overall Category) out of 200
9th (Engineering Category) out of 200
Outlook 2019 13th out of 100
QS India Universities 2020 16th out of 100
QS World Universities 2020 751-800
BRICS 2020 87th out of 400
Times Higher Education 2020 #601-800 out of 1009 in Engineering Category
The Week 2019 8th out of 126 in Engineering Category

On an International level, Anna University as per QS World Ranking fell from #651-700 in 2018 to #751-800 in 2019 and stayed at that rank in 2020. It scored 45.3 out of 100 under the Citations per faculty category. 

Check Anna University Admission

Comparative Analysis

Taking a comparative view regarding the ranks attained by similar institutes, the following statistics can be observed-

NIRF

Presently, Anna University holds the 7th rank, down from 4th, in the Universities Category out of 200, and 9th rank in the Engineering Category (out of 200), down from 8th, as of the year 2019. It holds the 14th rank in the Overall Category, down from 10th. 

The NIRF has allotted the following ranks to the below-mentioned universities which happen to be at par with the Anna University-

Rank Name NIRF Score
1 Indian Institute of Science Bangalore 82.28
2 Jawaharlal Nehru University 68.68
3 Banaras Hindu University 64.55
4 University of Hyderabad 61.85
5 Calcutta University 60.87
6 Jadavpur University 60.53
7 Anna University 60.35
8 Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham 59.22
9 Manipal Academy of Higher Education 58.50
10 Savitribai Phule Pune University 58.40

The NIRF list of universities for 2019 is headed by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, as it has since 2016. Other popular universities that have dominated the list for the past three years are Jawaharlal Nehru University, ranked 2, and Banaras Hindu University, ranked 3 since 2017. 

NIRF ranks institutions on the following parameters as displayed below:

Parameters Anna University Score
Teaching Learning and Resources (TLR) 56.39 / 100
Research and Professional Practices (RPC) 54.10/ 100
Graduation Outcomes (GO) 78.07/ 100
Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) 53.16/ 100
Perception 62.72/ 100

A more graphical representation of these statistics is mentioned here:

Anna University Ranking

As per the data presented above, Anna University is amongst the top 10 institutes of India as suggested by the report published by the NIRF.

The rankings of the Anna University over the past 3 years are as given below:

Year University Rank Engineering Category Overall Category
2019 7 9 14
2018 4 8 10
2017 6 8 13

QS India Universities

QS India Universities have been ranked on the basis of multiple parameters. These include:

  • Academic Reputation
  • Employer Reputation
  • Faculty Student
  • International Students
  • Faculty Staff with PhD
  • Papers per Faculty
  • Citations per Paper

These parameters are also used in the rankings of BRICS, as well as QS World Universities Rankings. 

Parameters Scores
Academic Reputation 35.8
Employer Reputation 68.4
Faculty Student 10.7
International Students 8
Faculty Staff with PhD 71.7
Papers per Faculty 98
Citations per Paper 58.4
Overall Scores 47.2

Anna University is down from rank #13 in 2019, to #16 in 2020. The Scores of Anna University for the above parameters are as follows:

A graphical representation of these stats is as below:

Anna University Ranking

QS World Universities Ranking

QS World Universities Ranking is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds limited. It released its first list in 2004, in partnership with THE, and became independent in 2010. 

The rank of Anna University fell from #651-700 in 2018 to #751-800 in 2019 and stayed at that rank in 2020. It scored 45.3 out of 100 under the Citations per faculty category. 

However, in the QS World Subject wise ranking, Anna University has made a forward lunge in 2020 in the “Engineering and Electrical” category. It started off in 2017 at the rank #301-350, where it stayed constant in both 2018 and 2019, before jumping up to rank #251-300 in 2020. The scores in the respective criteria are as follows:

  • Academic Reputation: 45.1
  • Citations per faculty: 84.1
  • H-Index Citations: 76.1
  • Employer Reputation: 60.1

The scores it pulled over the last 4 years are as mentioned below: 

Year Rank Academic Reputation Employer Reputation H-Index Citation Citations per Faculty
2020 251-300 45.1 60.1 76.1 84.1
2019 301-350 41.1 61.4 76.9 87
2018 301-350 39.8 62.2 77.6 87.7
2017 301-350 35.8 58.4 77 84.6

BRICS

Anna University has had an uneven increase in ranks over the last 4 years according to the BRICS ranking system. The parameters used by this system are the same as those in the QS India Ranking System. 

The scores and ranks of the Anna University of the last 5 years are as below:

Year Rank AC ES FS IS FS w/Ph.D PPF CPP Overall Score
2019 87 36.6 72.7 10.6 1.4 53.6 98.5 52.3 46.1
2018 85 30.4 60.9 - - 69.9 92.7 37 42.8
2017 151-200 - 83.2 - - - - - -
2016 151-200 - - - - - - - -
2015 141-150 - - - - - - - -

Outlook India I-CARE

Outlook India I-CARE ranked the top 100 universities in 2019 according to its own parameters, which includes Faculty Student Ratio (FSR), Faculty with PhD (FWP), Papers Per Faculty (PPF), Citations Per Paper (CPP) and Inclusiveness & Diversity (ID). Keep in mind that a university that has a low overall rank may score high in indivi­dual parameters and vice versa. Hence, this unique system of ranking can help students identify institutions which may be a good fit for them. 

The scores of Anna University are as follows: 

Parameter Accounts for Score
Faculty Student Ratio (FSR) 15% 94.8
Faculty with PhD (FWP) 15% 79.3
Papers Per Faculty (PPF) 30% 87.2
Citations Per Paper (CPP) 30% 93.1
Inclusiveness & Diversity (ID) 10% 56.9
Overall 100% 85.90

The top 15 universities as per the Outlook India I-CARE list, with their scores, are as mentioned:

Rank University FSR FWP PPF CPP ID Total Score
1 IIT Bombay 100 100 93.1 100 85.9 96.52
2 IISC Bangalore 100 100 100 95.2 75.2 96.08
3 IIT Madras 100 100 91.3 94.3 100 95.68
4 IIT Delhi 100 100 91.9 94.6 96.0 95.55
5 IIT Kharagpur 100 100 93.8 93 94.2 95.46
6 IIT Kanpur 100 100 93.2 92.9 93.8 95.21
7 IIT Roorkee 100 100 91.8 92.7 92.5 94.59
8 University of Delhi 89.4 92.8 90.7 94.1 91.6 91.93
9 IIT Guwahati 100 100 91.2 83.6 82.5 90.70
10 Jadavpur University 98.1 91.3 90.5 86.6 78.4 89.38
11 Manipal Academy of Higher Education 100 88.6 87.2 78.3 81.4 86.08
12 IIT-Indore 100 100 81.6 82.8 67.3 86.05
13 Anna University 94.8 79.8 87.2 93.1 56.9 85.90
14 Calcutta University 93.0 89.3 84.1 81.7 67.5 83.84
15 Birla Institute of Technology and Science 96.2 83.4 82.9 83.7 68.9 83.81

Anna University was ranked at the 13th position by the Outlook India I-CARE magazine, it was succeeded by IIT-Indore which received a score of 86.05.

Read more: Anna University Cutoff

Times Higher Education

Times Higher Education, often referred to as THE, has been releasing annual world university ranking lists since 2004. 

It has its own set of parameters and criteria, on the basis of which it ranks Universities all over the world. Anna University made an appearance at rank #601- 800 in the World Universities 2020 ranking list by subject, under the Engineering and IT category from 1009 entries. The scores were as follows:

Parameters Score
Citations 25.2
Industry Income 36.1
International Outlook 16.2
Research 15.6
Teaching 24.1
Overall 18.5 - 26.8

Anna University was ranked between 601-800, some of the other universities that fell under the same range are as follows-

  • Aligarh Muslim University
  • BITS Pilani
  • IIT Bhubaneswar
  • IIT Hyderabad
  • IIT Dhanbad
  • IIT Patna

The list comprises some highly reputed institutes, which further signifies the fact that Anna University is itself quite an esteemed institution since it is at par with all the above mentioned institutes.

The Week

The Week is a magazine issue which conducts national level research to score and rank learning institutions all over India in its annual issue, the Week-Hansa National Research Survey. The lists include top Art Colleges, top Commerce colleges, top Science colleges, top engineering institutions, top medical institutions and so on. 

In its 2019 issue of top Engineering Institutions All India, Anna University makes an appearance at the 8th rank, jumping forward from the 11th rank which it held in 2018, with a composite score of 389.

The top 10 Engineering institutions as per this ranking system are:

Rank Institution Composite Score
1 IIT Delhi 659
2 IIT Mumbai 638
3 IIT Chennai 598
4 IIT Kanpur 572
5 IIT Roorkee 543
6 IIT Guwahati 500
7 Birla Institute of Technology and Science 495
8 Anna University, College of Engineering 389
9 IIT Varanasi 386
10 NIT Tiruchirappalli 372