.jpg)
STAFF REPORT ISB: Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) has topped the overall ranking of national universities while Punjab University and NUST took second and third spots respectively in the latest ranking of universities released by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
According to the ranking, the Agha Khan is the best medical university of Pakistan while Iqra University Karachi is a top business varsity and NUST is ranked first for engineering.
HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad announcing the rankings said the exercise will boost academic and research culture among Pakistani universities, and build a market pressure on other institutions to improve their academic standards.
In the 5th ranking of Pakistani higher learning institutions, 129 public and private universities were ranked for the year 2015, adopting 66 parameters for scoring.
Further, Distance Learning Institutions including Allama Iqbal Open University and Virtual University and army academies were excluded from the ranking for not complying with the set parameters.
The universities have been ranked in overall top 10 varsities, general category, engineering and technology, business education, agriculture and veterinary, medical and arts and design.
QAU Islamabad retained its top spot for the fourth consecutive year in the overall ranking list.
The QAU is followed by University of the Punjab Lahore, NUST, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Aga Khan University, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), University of Karachi, University of Health Sciences Lahore, and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore.