Pune: Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), which was once a symbol of academic prowess, is facing a sharp fall in its National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking. It has plummeted from 37th in 2024 to 91st in 2025. Adding to this, PhD admissions have fallen from 235 in 2021-22 to just 17 in 2024-25. It has sent alarming signals among students and faculty regarding the university's academic and research path.
Fall in NIRF Ranking & Contributing Factors
The media reports highlighted the fall in the ranking to a combination of reasons, with the Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR) score plummeting from 61.07 in 2024 to 51.46 in 2025 and a lack of permanent faculty. Senior professor retirements have exceeded permanent recruitment, further aggravating the student-faculty ratio, one of the NIRF's most important indicators. Research productivity too has suffered, with issues over poor-quality or retracted articles and antiquated curricula.
Financial Hardship & Stipend Delays
Financial hardship further worsens the crisis, with delayed stipends compelling PhD and MPhil students to take up part-time jobs just to survive. Students from various fields aired their grievances, pointing to systemic failures. Priya Sonawane, a PhD student in environmental science, stated, "When I joined, PhD admissions were strong, and we had sufficient professors. Now, with all these retirements and slow recruitment, getting a good supervisor is a challenge." Research suffers without guidance, she added.
Harshal Jadhav, a master’s student at the Department of Media and Communication Studies, told FPJ, "The department is non-responsive to the needs of the students." We pay Rs 80,000 as tuition fees; in return, the department does not provide funds for the development of the project, which is a costly process and has to be crowdfunded by the student.
Sakshi Bagde, an MPhil student, added, “Stipends are delayed for months. For students like me from modest backgrounds, it’s impossible to focus on research when you’re worried about survival. Undergraduate and postgraduate students echoed these concerns.
Omkar, an undergraduate at the Department of Technology, pointed to crumbling infrastructure: "Labs are old, libraries do not have new books, and hostels are congested with poor upkeep. It's no wonder that our NIRF score for infrastructure is low."
Komal Sathe, a student at the Department of Mass Communication, told FPJ, "SPPU has been in the news for the wrong reasons in recent times." The recent reports of allegations of Rs 300 Cr by top officials of the university hamper the confidence of students who wish to enrol for a PhD at the university, she added.
Faculty Shortages & Contractual Hiring
Bhalchandra pointed towards the rise in contractual faculty compared to permanent faculty. He said, "There are only 10 permanent lecturers across all the departments; apart from that, there exists huge non-transparency in their selection processes."
Aditya Singh, a postgraduate in biotechnology, described the ranking fall as "demoralising" but not unexpected:"Shortages of faculty, dwindling research funding, and courses irrelevant to the modern world are the cause. The university must act; speeding up hiring of permanent faculty is essential, particularly in those departments with little or no full-time professors, Harshal Jadhav added.
On-time stipend disbursals and additional funding for research and laboratory facilities are critical to keep talent on board. Refurbishing syllabi, consolidating or cancelling low-demand programmes, and developing industry-academic partnerships may help increase enrolment and pertinence, Sakshi added. Open disclosure and improved promotion of PhD and postgraduate courses might encourage students to enrol, she added.
University at a Crossroads
SPPU is at a crossroads. Its place as a seat of learning in Pune is under threat unless immediate action is taken. On Tuesday, at the senate meeting of officials chaired by Vice Chancellor Dr Suresh Gosavi, the issues of the fall in NIRF ranking and allegations of corruption made by senate members were at the top of the agenda for official discussions. However, any official roadmap to improve the functioning of the university still remains on the anvil, which is expected to be released tomorrow.
In the meanwhile, the declining NIRF rating and near-collapse of PhD admissions are symptoms of more profound problems: shortages of faculty, financial unsustainability, and antiquated systems. Unequivocally, students are of the opinion that unless these issues are addressed, SPPU's academic reputation can only continue to decline. For a university with such a distinguished history, the need for reform is urgent and clear.
