University Ranking and a bias towards that 'foreign' degree

Indian Superstar' Rajanikanth in his latest blockbuster, 'Enthiran'  was an alumni from 'Carnegie Mellon' and 'Stanford' – not IIT or NIT or any of the other premier Indian institutions –  a wasted opportunity to get global and even local attention (well deserved) for some of India's best educational institutions.

Around 400,000 students seek admission to the IITs, only around 10,000 make it – giving it the status of being the hardest entrance examination in the world. Yet, even Indians are quick to look up to 'foreign' educational institutions as being superior.

While there is no doubt that in terms of facilities, ambience etc, colleges outside the country are more often than not superior, there is little to validate the opinion that a foreign degree, rather any foreign qualification, is superior to an Indian one.

To touch briefly on the subject of university rankings, while rankings by reputed names is a useful indicator, there is a fear that the system is partial to the 'elite' where the focus is not on the quality of education or the staff but more on the ambience and 'reputation'. Also the results are often based on very dubious attributes such as the number of research students or staff salaries. Some of the popular rankings are the 'Academic Ranking of World Universities' compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University,  Global Universiry Rankings, Newsweeks Top 100 Global Universities and the QS world University Rankings are some of the popular and reputed ones. In India, many magazines such as India Today and Outlook publish an annual University Ranking. QS also publishes rankings for Asian Universities.

Returning to the topic of this established belief that a foreign degree is superior to an Indian one, there is an urgent need for the media, students and educators themselves to revisit the subject. Also, we need to work harder at improving our international ranking. Most importantly, before rushing off to seek admission abroad, a thorough research on how the college or course compares with what is available within the country would no doubt be a wise move.  Having said that, it cannot be denied that most of the good universities do not have sufficient seats to cater to the demand. This being the case, students are forced to look for options outside. A word of caution would be to not focus entirely on rankings, but also check for first hand feedback from current or past students, seek information on the qualifications and proficiency of the staff and research into career prospects

Studying abroad certainly gives a young person the chance to explore new worlds and gain both confidence and invaluable experience. But, the broad-based belief that 'any' foreign degree will provide this is entirely wrong.