Indian universities have performed well in the 2025 Times Higher Education (THE) Global University Employability Ranking and Survey (GUERS). Based on employer feedback on the most employable graduates produced by universities worldwide, the rankings this year feature 10 Indian institutions in the top 250—an improvement from last year’s count of nine.
The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, despite a slight dip (ranked 28th), remains the top-performing Indian university. Meanwhile, the Indian Institute of Science has improved its ranking, moving up from 55th in 2024 to 47th in 2025, making it the second Indian university in the top 50.
“This success is largely due to the technological specialisation of its institutions, attracting the attention of international employers,” THE said.
The GEURS shows that employers want graduates who have undertaken some form of work experience. Though other factors continue to play a significant role such as graduate skills and digital mindset. As per the survey, 45.9 per cent of employers have emphasised the ability to learn and adapt to new technologies while 45.1% have valued collaboration skills like communication and teamwork.
Like the previous year, there is an increased presence of Asian universities. For instance, Asia has 52 institutions in the top 250 – three more than last year. Chinese universities are continuing to climb up and consolidate their position in the top echelons of the ranking with its top league universities – Peking University and Tsinghua University – moving up in the rankings this year.
In terms of overall rankings, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) maintained their top two positions for another year. In fact, the US and UK institutions took up 10 of the top 20 places. After a marked decline over the last 15 years, the number of American universities in rankings seems to be stabilising. In 2025, for example, 52 American universities feature in the top 250 – a slight increase from the previous years.
Meanwhile, prominent Canadian universities continue to see a downward trend, including the Université de Montréal/HEC (down 12 places) and McMaster University (down 3 places). However, other institutions such as the University of Toronto (14th), McGill University (31st) and the University of British Columbia (36th) remain in similar positions as compared to last year. On the other hand, the Gulf region, particularly the United Arab Emirates, continued to make progress.
The top 250 universities, according to the rankings, span 42 countries. Employers voted for institutions both within their own country and globally, reflecting their international recruitment practices.