Recently, HEC published a detailed report on university rankings after a year’s delay. The delay was due to the hectic and laborious efforts required to produce an authenticated list. The report shows the top universities overall and in each category on the basis of different standardized factors prevailing in all the universities of Pakistan.

HEC chairperson Dr.Mukhtar Ahmad stated in its presentation,

After much exertion, the colossal task of collecting, analyzing and the final assessment for the new ranking was made possible.

He further told that this time we have vexed our level best to overcome all technical statistical bias. He added, because there were some problems with the list of 2012 that got published in 2013.

According to the report, Quaid-e-Azam University (Islamabad) stood on top of the list provided on Monday by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Quite surprisingly and amazingly, University of Agriculture in Faisalabad and University of Punjab in Lahore were able to carve their names on 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively.

The ranking appeared between 120 different universities that are present prior to June 30, 2009. Nineteen universities awarded charter after June 30, 2009, are not shown in this list. Allama Iqbal Open University and Virtual University remained out of the list due to inadequate records.

Universities having more than 50% students in any discipline are explicit from ‘overall ranking’ list. Such universities are categorized in subject ranking list by HEC. LUMS University is no more in the business category as it has started introducing vast areas now. The ranking is based on the number of students, research productivity and quality, innovation and knowledge transfer, infrastructure, annual graduate output, international collaborations, student satisfaction and financial health of the institution.

Top 10 Universities of Pakistan (Overall Ranking):

1. Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad
2. University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
3. University of Punjab, Lahore
4. COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad
5. Aga Khan University, Karachi
6. National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
7. University of Karachi, Karachi
8. Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad
9. University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore
10. University of Health Sciences, Lahore

Now let’s have a look on the rankings category wise:

Engineering & Technology Category:

1. National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad
2. Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad
3. University of Engineering and Technology , Lahore
4. Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering and Technology , Topi (KPK)
5. University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar

Medical Category:

1. Aga Khan University, Karachi
2. University of Health Sciences, Lahore
3. DOW University of Health Sciences, Karachi
4. Khyber Medical University, Peshawar
5. Riphah International University, Islamabad

Business Education Category:

1. Institute of Business Administration, Karachi
2. Lahore School of Economics, Lahore
3. SZABIST, Karachi
4. Institute of Business Administration, Sukkur
5. Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar

Agriculture/Veterinary Category

1. University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
2. University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Lahore
3. Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi
4. University of Agriculture, Peshawar
5. Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam

Art & Design Category:

1. National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore
2. Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, Karachi

If we look at all these HEC lists, we can see that LUMS is not even part of top 10, NUST has upgraded its status to the paramount engineering university while Agha Khan, NCA, IBA Karachi and University of Agriculture securing the top and best place in their categories. So, these are the ranking that can help you in accessing the best university to get admission for Graduation, Masters, M.Phil or PhD. We hope that Pakistani Universities will one day make their mark in the list of top Universities of the world and they will keep on adding their services to the Education sector.