For the first time, an Indian university, IISc (Indian Institute of Science) Bangalore has been ranked eighth in the Times Higher Education or ‘THE’ Rankings for the year 2017, making it a proud moment for the Indian education sector.

IISc joins the elite list that includes California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from the US, Ecole Normale Superieure from France and Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea. Caltech retains its leading position, and France and Italy each take three places among the top 10.

India has two misses. Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and Savitribai Phule Pune University which were ranked 14 and 18 respectively in the 2016 edition could not retain their spots in the top 20 this time.

"As part of this year's World's Best Small Universities ranking, we have asked students at a dozen smaller universities to give us their take on student life, and it seems that this positive view of smaller schools is echoed by students from Paris to Japan", said Seeta Bhardwa of Times Higher Education.

Seeta Bhardwa, student editor at THE said, "The Best Small Universities in the World for 2017 highlights that small universities provide high student satisfaction and good working relationships between students and their professors. Many students are drawn to smaller class sizes, higher teacher to student ratios and the communitylike feel that a small university can provide."

By Premji