KPMG analysis of NIRF data finds PhD-qualified faculty near 60% in top 100 institutions, research publications up to 300% in some streams and median graduate salaries almost doubled.
A new KPMG analysis of NIRF data finds that PhD-qualified faculty are approaching 60% across India’s top 100 institutions in 2025, with management faculties reporting over 90% and engineering colleges exceeding 80% PhD strength. The study highlights a decade of outcome-led gains: PhD enrolments rose 21% from 2019 to 2025, PhD completions grew almost 49%, and publication volume surged—by about 150% in universities and engineering and 300% in pharmacy and management. These shifts reflect stronger research supervision, improved infrastructure and a policy push toward research-driven rankings.
KPMG’s report also flags widening resource gaps: top-ranked institutions convert more published patents into granted patents and attract far greater sponsored research—top 25 universities now receive roughly nine times the sponsored funding of those ranked 76–100. Participation in NIRF rose from 2,426 institutions in 2016 to 7,692 in 2025, signalling broader engagement with quality metrics. The analysis recommends emphasising research quality (citations, societal relevance) over raw counts to sustain credibility and avoid perverse incentives.
Practical implications: students can expect stronger supervision and better employability—median starting salaries nearly doubled in five years—while smaller or mid-ranked colleges must now focus on research outputs, industry linkages and ethical practices to remain competitive. Search phrases that will capture organic traffic include short-tail terms (“PhD faculty India”, “NIRF 2025 research”), and low-competition long-tail queries like “PhD faculty percentage top 100 institutions 2025”, “KPMG NIRF analysis research publication growth India”, and “how universities increased PhD completions 2019-2025”. This story blends data, policy recommendations and career impact to answer what the KPMG-NIRF findings mean for students, faculty and university planners.
