For mysterious reasons government autonomous colleges are rarely ranked by the Union education ministry and media publications. EducationWorld is an exception because we appreciate them as islands of collegiate education excellence: Writes, Summiya Yasmeen

India’s 979 autonomous undergrad colleges have a special place of honour within the national higher education system. They constitute just 2.1 percent of the country’s 45,473 colleges and have passed stringent criteria prescribed by the apex Delhi-based University Grants Commission (UGC) for conferment of prized autonomous status.

According to UGC rules, to qualify for autonomous status, all applicant colleges — government and private — must be of more than ten years vintage and “accredited by either NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) with minimum ‘A’ Grade or the NBA (National Board of Accreditation of the All India Council for Technical Education) for at least three programmes, or be awarded autonomy by a corresponding accreditation grade/score from a UGC empanelled accreditation agency”.

After conferment of autonomous status, chosen colleges are permitted to restructure, redesign and prescribe their own syllabi and curriculums, introduce new study programmes; evolve independent performance evaluation systems, conduct examinations and notify results. They are also allowed to issue mark sheets, migration and other certificates. Although their degrees are awarded by the affiliating state university, the name of the college is permitted to be inscribed on the degree certificate and they carry great weight with potential employers in industry and business.

Though of the 979 colleges conferred autonomy by UGC (as on June 12, 2023), the majority — 786 — are privately promoted, a small minority — 193 — of state government-owned colleges have also passed UGC’s rigorous assessment tests to qualify for autonomous status. While there’s a perceived quality gap between private and government autonomous colleges, the latter serve an important social purpose by providing heavily subsidised collegiate education to youth from low-income households.

For mysterious reasons, government autonomous colleges are rarely ranked by the Union education ministry and media publications. EducationWorld is an exception because we appreciate them as islands of excellence among government higher undergrad education institutions. To acknowledge their status and encourage undergrad colleges to improve continuously since 2020, India’s best Arts, Science and Commerce (ASC) colleges have been divided into private autonomous, government autonomous and non-autonomous colleges and ranked separately in each category.

The 2024-25 EW league table of best government autonomous colleges shows a re-arrangement of top table seating. The 2,100 knowledgeable sample respondents comprising higher education faculty, students and industry representatives interviewed by Bengaluru-based AZ Research Partners Pvt. Ltd have voted the Government Degree College for Women, Begumpet, Hyderabad #1 (#2 in 2023-24) followed by Maharaja’s College, Kochi at #2 (#1) and Presidency College, Chennai at #3 (#3).

Promoted in 1971 and awarded autonomous status in 2012 by UGC, Government Degree College for Women, Begumpet (GDCW) has been steadily rising in the EW league table — from #5 in 2022-23 to #2 last year, and to #1 in 2024-25. The college is awarded top scores under the parameters of curriculum and pedagogy, faculty welfare and development, placements and leadership/governance quality.

“We are delighted and excited to learn that GDCW is ranked India’s #1 government autonomous college. It’s long-awaited recognition. Since the college was conferred autonomy in 2012, we have made continuous efforts to introduce contemporary and innovative study programmes, apprenticeship-based and value-added courses to prepare our women students for employment. We also offer coaching for civil services and other professional entrance examinations. Many of our students are recruited by local companies with a few employed with top companies such as Deloitte, Infosys, TCS and Tech Mahindra. Moreover, I want to highlight a unique programme we run in collaboration with the World Academy for Future Women, a US-based NGO, to provide leadership training to our students. This year’s top rank will motivate our faculty and students to strive to maintain our #1 ranking,” says Dr. K. Padmavathi, an alumna of Osmania University who has served as head of several government colleges in the state since 1995, and was appointed principal of GDCW in 2021. Currently, GDCW has 4,000 women students mentored by 105 faculty on its muster rolls.

Beyond the Top 3, Yuvaraja’s College, Mysuru has inched up to #4 (#5), Smt. Sarladevi Satishchandra Agarwal Government First Grade College, Ballari has leapfrogged to #5 (#13) even as Maharani’s Science College for Women, Mysuru has retained its #6 rank. However, the biggest gainer is Sri Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women, Madurai which has been promoted from #15 last year to #6 in 2024-25. Sarojini Naidu Government Girls PG College, Bhopal has retained its #7 rank jointly with Government Holkar (Model, Autonomous) Science College, Indore (#8).
The Top 10 table is completed by Government College, Anantapur (AP) at #8 (#11) followed by Government VYT PG Autonomous College, Durg, retaining its #9 rank and Kanchi Mamunivar Government Institute for Postgraduate Studies and Research, Lawspet, Puducherry at #10.
Dr. Suresh T. Silawat, principal of Govt. Holkar (Model, Autonomous) Science College, Indore is elated that this 133-year-old legacy institution is consistently ranked among the country’s Top 10 government ASC colleges.

“It’s a matter of pride to be ranked among India’s Top 10 for the past five years by EducationWorld. I attribute this to our well-designed syllabus and curriculums that promote entrepreneurship, employability and skill development and our dedicated and focused faculty, disciplined students and excellent infrastructure. The college is implementing NEP 2020 with the introduction of an Academic Bank of Credits. We have also completed construction of new classrooms, upgraded our laboratories, and have registered with the Union education ministry to establish an Innovation Cell on campus. Therefore, I am not surprised that your survey respondents have given Holkar College high scores on the parameters of faculty competence, curriculum and pedagogy, and infrastructure. We are now working towards qualifying for deemed university status,” says Silawat. Currently, Holkar College has an enrolment of 12,600 students and 316 faculty.

Similarly, Dr. M. Selvaraj, director of the Kanchi Mamunivar Government Institute for Postgraduate Studies and Research, Puducherry (KMGI, estb.1989), is grateful that EW survey respondents have ranked this 35-year-old institution among India Top 10 for the second year consecutively. “We are very pleased that KMGI has been voted among India’s Top 10 government autonomous ASC colleges again in the comprehensive and credible EW India Higher Education Rankings. I credit this to the collective efforts of faculty, staff and students. It’s also gratifying to learn that we have been awarded high scores for faculty welfare and development and infrastructure. Our campus is wi-fi-enabled and we have received a Rs.5 crore grant from the Department of Science and Technology to upgrade and equip our labs for postgraduate and doctoral students. A new building housing a modern computer lab will be inaugurated this year. Moreover, last year more than 250 research papers authored by our faculty and research scholars were published in high impact journals,” says Dr. Selvaraj. Currently, KMGI has 1,800 students and 56 faculty on its muster rolls.

Further down the 79-strong league table of India’s top-ranked government ASC autonomous colleges, several institutions have risen in esteem of the informed public. Among them: Government MKB Arts & Commerce College, Jabalpur to #12 (#21 in 2023-24), Government Kamla Raja Girls PG College, Gwalior to #18 (#23), Government Girls PG College, Rewa (MP) to #19 (#26) and Bharathidasan Government College for Women, Puducherry to #29 (#31).

A highlight of the EW Best Government Autonomous Colleges Rankings 2024-25 league table is that it is dominated by colleges promoted by the state governments of Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Surprisingly, the populous states of West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh don’t have government autonomous colleges sufficiently well-known for inclusion in the EW 2024-25 league table of autonomous Government ASC colleges.

With Aditi Maheshwari & Reshma Ravishanker