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26 September, 2025
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The QS World University Rankings were released on September 17, 2025. India has successfully marked its presence in the QS Online MBA Rankings 2026. Of 125 ranked universities, 3 Indian higher education institutions — IIM Kozhikode, MRIIRS, and Goa Institute of Management have successfully secured places in the list.
With the release of the QS Online MBA Rankings 2026, we present the key highlights that define India’s remarkable performance this year. Dive into the blog to learn about the QS Online MBA Rankings 2026 India. Discover the top 30 global universities featured in the QS Online MBA Rankings 2026. Swiftly scroll ahead to uncover more key insights and facts. Let us begin with “What is QS Online MBA Rankings?”
The full form of QS in the ‘QS Online MBA Rankings’ is Quacquarelli Symonds. This is an analytics firm for global higher education that conducts these rankings every year. With headquarters in London, QS is a well-renowned firm globally. QS Online MBA Rankings are a type of comparative evaluation for higher education institutes worldwide. Quacquarelli Symonds compares the institutions globally to rank them based on a comparative analysis for the online MBA course. It researches various academic surveys, student experience, and employer surveys to rank these universities, ensuring quality curriculum, university reputation, faculty citations, and other metrics.
The QS Online MBA Rankings evaluation is a critical process. There are various factors which are considered to perform a comparative analysis and rank the institutions globally. There are mainly five categories that assess the rankings for each university. This includes research and discovery, employability and outcomes, learning experience, global engagement, and sustainability. Each of these categories is further divided into indicators (sub-categories). Check out the weightage for each category and indicators in a particular ranking:
| Category | Indicator (Sub-Category) | Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| Research and Discovery | Academic Reputation | 30% |
| Citations per Faculty | 20% | |
| Employability and Outcomes | Employer Reputation | 15% |
| Employment Outcomes | 5% | |
| Learning Experience | Faculty Student Ratio | 10% |
| Global Engagement | International Research Network | 5% |
| International Faculty Ratio | 5% | |
| International Student Ratio | 5% | |
| International Student Diversity | 0% | |
| Sustainability | Sustainability | 5% |
This year, three top-notch colleges of India have secured places in the QS Online MBA Rankings 2026. Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, popularly known as IIM Kozhikode is the top-ranked online MBA colleges in the world, from India. It has secured 53rd rank, successfully marking its name in the top 100. Among a total of 125 QS-ranked universitiesfor an online MBA course, here is a list of ranked online MBA colleges in India:
| Institution Name | Location (India) | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Institute of Management (IIM) – Kozhikode | Kozhikode, Kerala | 53 |
| Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies (MRIIRS) | Faridabad, Haryana | 76-100 |
| Goa Institute of Management | Sattari, Goa | 101+ |
There are a total of 125 institutions that have been ranked in the QS Online MBA Rankings 2026. While the Imperial College Business School, UK, ranked 1 in this year’s rankings list, IE Business School, Spain and Warwick Business School, UK, shone as top second and top third online MBA colleges in the world, respectively. Here are the top 30 institutions ranked in the QS Online MBA Rankings 2026.
| Institution Name | Location | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Imperial College Business School | London, United Kingdom | 1 |
| IE Business School | Madrid, Spain | 2 |
| Warwick Business School | Coventry, United Kingdom | 3 |
| AGSM @ UNSW Business School | Randwick, Australia | 4 |
| Indiana University (Kelley Direct Programs) | Bloomington, US | 5 |
| Alliance Manchester Business School | Manchester, United Kingdom | 6 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, United States | 7 |
| University of Florida (Warrington) | Gainesville, United States | 8 |
| Southern California (Marshall) | Los Angeles, United States | 9 |
| Durham University Business School | Durham, United Kingdom | =10 |
| Florida International University College of Business | Miami, United States | =10 |
| POLIMI Graduate School of Management | Milan, Italy | 12 |
| University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) | Chapel Hill, United States | 13 |
| Arizona State University (Carey) | Tempe, United States | 14 |
| Washington (Foster) | Seattle, United States | 15 |
| Graduate School of Management, University of California – Davis | Davis, United States | 16 |
| Babson (Olin) | Wellesley, United States | 17 |
| NC State University (Poole) | Raleigh, United States | 18 |
| Hult International Business School | Cambridge, United States | =19 |
| Oxford Brookes Business School | Oxford, United Kingdom | =19 |
| Bayes Business School | London, United Kingdom | 21 |
| Smeal College Of Business, Pennsylvania State University | University Park, United States | 22 |
| University of Exeter | Exeter, United Kingdom | 23 |
| WHU (Otto Beisheim) | Vallendar, Germany | 24 |
| University of Maryland (Smith) | College Park, United States | 25 |
| Macquarie Business School (MQBS) | Sydney, Australia | =26 |
| Naveen Jindal UT Dallas | Richardson, United States | =26 |
| Rice University (Jones) | Houston, United States | 28 |
| Trinity College Dublin (TCD) | Dublin, Ireland | 29 |
| Vlerick Business School | Brussels, Belgium | 30 |
QS has also released the prestigious QS World University Rankings 2026 in June 2025. Here is a glimpse of the global institutions ranking analysis and the impressive performance of India in the rankings. Take a look:
This year, the organisation has ranked 1,501 institutions globally. Among these, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also known as MIT, has maintained its consistency at position 1 for another year. While the top 10 universities in the QS World University Rankings 2026 list remain quite stable, Stanford University marks an exception by entering the list. Here are some of the trending global insights from the QS World University Rankings list:
The QS Online MBA Rankings 2026 have been released already. With the United States and the United Kingdom being among the top countries with the most ranked online MBA universities, India has shown an incredible rise, with 3 ranked institutions. These rankings highlight the reputation of the higher education institutions among students, mentors, and employers. As QS Rankings are recognised globally, owning a rank in the list is commendable for the institutes. It makes them known and accepted widely across the globe. Leverage the rankings to choose the best college for your next academic journey.
India ranks fourth in terms of the number of universities ranked in the QS World University Rankings 2026. The top three countries with the highest number of ranked universities are the US, UK, and China, with 192, 90, and 72 universities ranked, respectively.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, popularly known as MIT, is the world’s top-ranked university as per the QS World University Rankings 2026.
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, also known as IIT Delhi or IITD, is India’s top-ranked university globally, according to QS World University Rankings 2026. However, IIT Madras is top-ranked by the NIRF Rankings 2025 within India, and IIT Delhi is the fourth-best institute as per NIRF.
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi) has the highest world rankings according to the QS World University Rankings 2026.
While IITs have global recognition, MIT is significantly better than IITs due to the highest global rankings and broader prestige.
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