BITS Pilani Opts Out Of Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings Over Transparency Issues
BITS Pilani said global rankings serve as one of several benchmarking tools, but evaluation frameworks must be transparent, explainable, and independently verifiable, given their growing influence on student choice, academic partnerships, funding decisions, and public trust.
Hyderabad: BITS-Pilani said on Friday it had opted out of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, citing concerns over transparency and verifiability in ranking processes. The institute said it would stop sharing institutional and subject-level data required for inclusion in rankings, and therefore would therefore not appear in future rankings.
BITS Pilani said global rankings serve as one of several benchmarking tools, but evaluation frameworks must be transparent, explainable, and independently verifiable, given their growing influence on student choice, academic partnerships, funding decisions, and public trust.
Several Indian Institutes of Technology had earlier opted out of rankings, citing methodological concerns and data interpretation issues.
“Measurement systems that carry such weight must meet the standards expected of academic governance,” the institute said in a statement
The institute said it remains committed to international collaboration, research output, innovation, and faculty and student mobility, and added that it remains open to re-engaging with THE if the framework evolves towards greater consistency and verification.
