CHENNAI: Led by the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, 13 educational institutions from Tamil Nadu found a place in the QS World University Rankings: Asia-2026.

On top of the list is IIT-M, which came at 70, while VIT, Vellore, came second at 156. The latter was the second-highest ranked private university in the country after BITS, Pilani, which scored 0.5 points more and was deemed 154th in rankings.

Anna University was the topranked State-run university on the list at 204, which was followed by SRM Institute of Science and Technology at 226. Below them are Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (ranked 254),

Sathyabama University (262), Bharathiyar University (283), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetam (307), Alagappa University (369), NIT-Tiruchy (393), Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education (408), SASTRA (419), and Madurai Kamaraj University (458).

Apart from these, Pondicherry University, ranked 470, was another institution that made it to the top 500 according to the ranking, which was released on Tuesday.

294 institutions from India made it to the QS ranking list. Among them, IIT-Delhi came after being ranked 59th in the overall list

This year, 294 institutions from India made it to the QS ranking list. Among them, IIT-Delhi came after being ranked 59th in the overall list. Along with it, six other universities are in the top-100 ranks – most of them IITs, and also IISc, Bengaluru, and the University of Delhi.

This year, 36 Indian universities have improved their ranking, with Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology recording the biggest improvement by rising 111 places to rank 262nd. It’s noteworthy that IIT-M has top-200 global rank in QS World University Rankings 2026 (released in June), a sharp rise of 47 places from its 227th position last year, and is the third-highest-ranked institution from India in this year’s global list.