SOA Bhubaneswar Ranking 2026: NIRF, QS & More

SOA does not have one NIRF rank. It has eight, all from the NIRF 2025 edition. Dentistry sits at 9, Law at 10 and Medicine at 15. The University category sits at 15, Engineering at 22 and the Overall category at 25. Research sits at 49 and Management at 66 (soa.ac.in/nirf). The category you care about, not a single combined score, is the number that should inform your decision.

SOA also holds a NAAC A++ grade in its third accreditation cycle (soa.ac.in). It carries a THE World Reputation Rankings 2025 listing, shared by only four Indian institutions. In the 2027 world lists, SOA sits in the 1201-1400 band at QS and the 1001-1200 band at THE.

NIRF 2026 ranks are not out yet. nirfindia.org lists 2025 as its latest edition, so this page uses NIRF 2025.

Which SOA NIRF rank should you actually look at?

The one for your programme. A student choosing dentistry should weigh the Dentistry rank of 9, not the Management rank of 66. The two describe entirely different institutes inside SOA. Check the SOA courses list page to confirm which institute runs your programme.

Does SOA have a single "Overall" NIRF rank?

Yes, and it is a different number from the University rank. SOA holds NIRF 2025 Overall category rank 25. This is confirmed on both SOA's own notification and NIRF's own Overall Rankings 2025 list (soa.ac.in and nirfindia.org). This sits alongside its separate University rank of 15 and its category ranks in Dentistry, Medicine, Engineering, Law, Research and Management. Overall and University are two distinct NIRF lists, not the same figure under two names.

Sources for the 2025 figures: soa.ac.in/nirf, the soa.ac.in Overall-rank notification and nirfindia.org's Overall Rankings 2025 list. research.soa.ac.in/about-soa supplies the 2024 figures. Overall and University are two distinct NIRF 2025 lists SOA appears on simultaneously, not the same figure relabelled. The 2024 source only reported an "Overall" figure, so the University-category comparison cell is left blank rather than guessed. NIRF 2026 ranks are not yet on nirfindia.org.

Medicine and Engineering both improved between the two editions confirmed here. Medical rank moved up 6 places, and Engineering moved up 4. Law fell by one place, from 9 to 10, over the same period. SOA's Overall rank fell from 14 in 2024 to 25 in 2025, a drop of 11 places, even as its Medical and Engineering category ranks improved.

Did SOA's NIRF rank improve overall?

It is mixed, not uniform, and the headline Overall number actually fell. Medicine and Engineering both improved by several places between 2024 and 2025, while Law fell by one place and the Overall category rank dropped from 14 to 25. There is no single combined trend across all categories.

Why does SOA's Dental rank stay the same while others move?

NIRF 2025 shows SOA holding rank 9 in Dentistry in both 2024 and 2025, per its own confirmed sources. Its dental programme held its competitive position while other categories moved up or down.

SOA sits in the QS World University Rankings 2027 band of 1201-1400 (QS profile). SOA's own notification gives its regional ranks for the 2025 edition. It was 64th in Southern Asia and 278th in Asia (SOA notification, November 2024).

The QS profile also shows SOA at joint 332nd in Asia, with no edition named. So 278th is the last Asia rank that SOA has published itself.

Is a QS band ranking worse than a specific numbered rank?

Not necessarily worse, just less precise. QS assigns institutes outside its top few hundred to bands rather than individual numbers. This is standard practice for QS at this range, not a sign of a weaker underlying position.

What is SOA's Times Higher Education ranking?

SOA Bhubaneswar sits in the THE World University Rankings 2027 band of 1001-1200 (THE profile). SOA's own ranking page still shows the 2025 band of 801-1000 (soa.ac.in/ranking). The THE profile also lists three subject bands.

ITER, SOA's engineering institute, was ranked second in India in the Times Engineering Institutes Ranking 2025 (soa.ac.in, dated 30 May 2025). This sits alongside SOA's NIRF Engineering rank of 22. It is a different measure, not the same rank stated twice. See the SOA placement page for ITER's confirmed recruiter and salary trend.

Why does ITER show two different rankings for engineering?

Because they measure different things. NIRF Engineering rank 22 comes from NIRF's own parameter-weighted methodology across all engineering institutes nationally. The Times Engineering Institutes Ranking 2025's rank 2 comes from a separate ranking body with its own criteria. Both are genuine, sourced ranks, but they are not interchangeable.