KATHMANDU, Feb 26: Nepal’s oldest and largest higher education institution, Tribhuvan University (TU), has improved its global standing in the latest university rankings, showing encouraging progress in both overall performance and subject-specific excellence.
According to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, TU improved its overall score and strengthened its international academic presence. The ranking evaluated nearly 6,000 universities worldwide, placing TU in the 1501+ category. Although TU’s rank position remained roughly similar to previous years, its ranking score improved to 23.52 in 2026, up from 23.2 in 2025. The 0.52-point improvement is viewed positively by university officials.
THE evaluates universities based on teaching environment, research quality, industry collaboration (knowledge transfer), and international outlook.
TU’s strongest performance this year was seen in medical education. In subject-wise rankings, programs under TU’s Institute of Medicine performed at a level comparable to some of the world’s leading universities.
Professor Dr. Narayan Adhikari, head of TU’s Central Department of Physics and coordinator of the THE Rankings 2026 analytical committee, said the medical education results were particularly encouraging.
“Particularly in medical subjects, TU has managed to rank within the world’s top 601,” he said during a presentation in Kirtipur. “This performance is better than all but the top six universities in India. It shows that medical education in Nepal is of global standard and quality.”
The report also highlighted TU’s achievements despite extremely limited resources. According to data presented by Dr. Adhikari, TU spends an average of only Rs 57,000 per student annually.
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In comparison, India’s Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) spend about 2 million Indian rupees per student, while Harvard University spends about US$380,000 (around Rs 5 crore) per student each year.
“Despite low financial investment and limited infrastructure, TU’s ability to compete with prestigious global universities is a major achievement,” Adhikari said. “This proves we are producing world-class human resources with limited investment.”
THE conducted subject-wise rankings across 11 disciplines, including arts and humanities, business and economics, computer science, education, engineering, law, life sciences, medical sciences, physical sciences, psychology, and social sciences.
Among these, TU ranked around 1000th in engineering and remained competitive with several reputed Indian universities in education, life sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences.
However, TU failed to appear in four subjects — arts and humanities, computer science, law, and psychology — mainly due to weak research output, insufficient research funding, and low publication numbers.
TU Rector Prof Dr Khadga KC said increasing student numbers alongside shrinking research funding has created challenges.
“Compared to last year, student numbers have increased by nearly 200,000, but the number of teachers and professors remains around 7,000. Maintaining quality in such conditions is extremely challenging,” he said.
He also stressed that research is essential for university development. “Earlier, the state provided Rs 100 million for research, but now it has been reduced to Rs 10 million,” he said. “Can a research budget of Rs 10 million help bring Nepal’s oldest university to global standards?”
Although TU Senate has introduced awards to encourage quality journal publications, officials say increased state investment is still necessary.
Data shows TU has been included in THE rankings since 2019. Between 2019 and 2023, TU remained within the world’s top 1,000 universities. In 2020, TU’s research score reached 30.8 and increased by 130% to 71.2 by 2023.
However, the trend declined after 2024. The research score dropped to 49.5 in 2024 and further to 46.7 in the 2026 ranking, indicating the need for stronger research performance.
Since global ranking agencies use different evaluation criteria, TU’s position varies across rankings. THE emphasizes teaching, research, and international outlook. TU is ranked 1501+ in THE, 919th in US News rankings, and 1657th in CWUR rankings. US News prioritizes research reputation, publications, and citations, while CWUR considers alumni success, faculty excellence, and research output.
Professor Adhikari said variation in rankings is normal because each agency uses different evaluation methods. US News evaluated 4,000 universities, while CWUR evaluated 22,000 universities.
TU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Deepak Aryal said university evaluation should no longer be based solely on student numbers. Future assessments will focus on research quality, teaching methods, international competitiveness, and social contribution.
To improve its 2027 ranking, TU has introduced new strategies. The university has decided to include research outputs and teaching contributions from TU-affiliated private, constituent, and community campuses in its performance evaluation.
“We are expanding the scope of research. We are encouraging publications in Scopus and Web of Science indexed journals, forming research groups, and strengthening post-doctoral and PhD programs,” Aryal said.
He also promised increased investment in laboratories and equipment, emphasizing that infrastructure also plays a crucial role in improving academic quality.
TU aims to make significant progress in global rankings next year by modernizing teaching methods, strengthening industry partnerships, and expanding its digital presence.
