For engineering and medical colleges, a perceptual survey was conducted among the faculty of different engineering and medical colleges. The perceptual data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was administered to senior faculty members and professionals from industry. The respondents were asked to rate the institutes they were familiar with on 10-point scales, against different parameters. They were also asked to assign weightage to each parameter.

The parameters used for evaluating the engineering and medical colleges are listed below. The weightage given to each parameter was derived by taking the average weightage that the faculty gave to each. In all, 1,125 faculty members belonging to different engineering colleges were interviewed. Similarly, for ranking medical colleges, 235 faculty members were interviewed. Not more than one faculty member from each department was interviewed. The rating that the faculty gave to their own institutes was not considered. Institutes that were not evaluated by at least 20 members of faculty are not listed.

For ranking institutes in law, hotel management, health care management, fashion technology, mass communication and media, faculty members and professionals in the respective industries were contacted. They were administered a structured questionnaire and asked to rate the institutes they were familiar with on 10-point scales, against four broad parameters—intellectual capital, pedagogic systems and processes, placements, infrastructure and support systems. They were also asked to give weightage to each parameter in terms of relative importance. In order to eliminate bias, the rating that each institute got against different parameters was calculated. The average rating score was multiplied by the corresponding aggregate weightage. The sum total of the weighted averages was used to arrive at a score for an institute and was ranked accordingly.

Parameters

Intellectual capital:Competence of faculty; faculty-to-student ratio; research output; number of patents

Pedagogic systems and process: Admission process; teaching and evaluation methodology; curriculum upgrading

Industry interface: Summer projects and internship; and number of research projects undertaken with industry

Placements: Number and type of companies visiting for campus interviews; maximum; median and minimum salary offered for Indian and abroad jobs; number of students who went to higher education in reputed Indian and foreign institutes

Infrastructure and support systems: Campus area; total number of computers, number of books in library; number of faculty cabins to faculty strength ration; number of seminar halls; number of engineering drawing halls; number of workshops, number of machines in workshops, number of laboratories, budget allocated for labs, residential facilities for students and faculty; facilities such as playgrounds, gyms, etc., responsiveness of administration to student needs