Every few months, we see jubilant headlines announcing that a Pakistani university has climbed a few places in international rankings such as Times Higher Education (THE), QS, or UI GreenMetric. Social media timelines are filled with congratulatory posts, banners are displayed on campuses, and press releases highlight these achievements. But behind this glitter lies an uncomfortable question: do these rankings really reflect the true quality of our universities? More importantly, do they measure what our graduates are actually capable of contributing to society and the economy?

The reality is that most international ranking frameworks emphasise inputs rather than outcomes. They reward infrastructure development, research publications, citation counts, sustainability indicators, and surveys of reputation. These are useful in their own right, but they often mask the deeper issue: what kind of graduate walks out of our classrooms and into the world? If a student, after four years of university education, still struggles with communication, critical thinking, ethics, and employability, then can we genuinely call the institution successful regardless of where it appears in a ranking table?

A university’s true ranking is not determined by the number of papers published in indexed journals or the size of its campus, but by the quality of the students it produces. Each graduate is a living, walking ranking of their alma mater. Their performance in professional life, their ability to create businesses, their ethical decision-making, and their contribution to society reflect far more authentically on a university than any international survey ever could. If graduates remain unemployed, underemployed, or disconnected from the real needs of society, then climbing a few positions in global charts is an empty victory.

This is why universities must move beyond the........

© The Friday Times