JMI vs Nalanda: which is better?

Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) is in New Delhi, Delhi, was set up in 1920, is ranked #4 among universities in NIRF 2025 and holds NAAC A++. Nalanda University (Nalanda) is in Rajgir, Bihar and was set up in 2010. Both admit students through NET/JRF, so one score works for both.

Quick verdict

JMI is ahead on

• JMI: more courses (247+ vs 20+)

Nalanda is ahead on

• Nalanda: lower PG fees (Rs. 9,775 to Rs. 1,27,400 a year vs Rs. 42,500 in the first semester (M.A., M.Sc.); MBA Rs. 64,500)

JMI vs Nalanda: full comparison

Sources: NIRF 2025 (Ministry of Education) and NAAC. Students, teachers, median salaries, placements and research grants are from the data each university filed with NIRF and published on its own website (open a university's profile for the PDF). Fees are compared only where they have been checked against the university's own prospectus. A tick marks the better value in a row.

Courses both offer: seats side by side

JMI and Nalanda both offer 4 courses under the same name. The seats are each university's printed intake; open a course to compare its fee and entrance at every Central University that offers it.

Which one should you choose?

• Choose JMI if what matters most to you is: more courses (247+ vs 20+), or you want to study in New Delhi.
• Choose Nalanda if what matters most to you is: lower PG fees (Rs. 9,775 to Rs. 1,27,400 a year vs Rs. 42,500 in the first semester (M.A., M.Sc.); MBA Rs. 64,500), or you want to study in Rajgir.

Admission at both is mostly through the national entrance tests, so check each one's JMI admission and Nalanda admission pages for the courses and seats you want.

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AMU #10Aligarh Muslim UniversityAUAllahabad UniversityAUS #97Assam UniversityBBAU #37Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar UniversityBHU #6Banaras Hindu UniversityCAUCentral Agricultural UniversityCSUCentral Sanskrit UniversityCTUAPCentral Tribal University of Andhra PradeshCUAPCentral University of Andhra PradeshCUGCentral University of GujaratCUHCentral University of HaryanaCUHPCentral University of Himachal PradeshCUJCentral University of JammuCU JharkhandCentral University of JharkhandCU KarnatakaCentral University of KarnatakaCUKCentral University of KashmirCU KeralaCentral University of KeralaCUOCentral University of OdishaCUP #77Central University of PunjabCURAJ #89Central University of RajasthanCUSBCentral University of South BiharCUTN #83Central University of Tamil NaduDHSGUDr. Hari Singh Gour UniversityRPCAUDr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture UniversityEFLUEnglish and Foreign Languages UniversityGSVGati Shakti VishwavidyalayaGGVGuru Ghasidas VishwavidyalayaHNBGUHemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal UniversityIMUIndian Maritime UniversityIGNOUIndira Gandhi National Open UniversityIGNTUIndira Gandhi National Tribal UniversityJMI #4Jamia Millia IslamiaJNU #2Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityMGAHVMahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi VishwavidyalayaMGCUMahatma Gandhi Central UniversityMUManipur UniversityMANUUMaulana Azad National Urdu UniversityMZU #82Mizoram UniversityNagaland UniversityNagaland UniversityNUNalanda UniversityNSUNational Sanskrit UniversityNSUNational Sports UniversityNEHUNorth Eastern Hill UniversityPUPondicherry UniversityRGNAURajiv Gandhi National Aviation UniversityRGURajiv Gandhi UniversityRLBCAURani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural UniversitySSCTUSammakka Sarakka Central Tribal UniversitySLBSNSUShri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit UniversitySUSikkim UniversitySCUSindhu Central UniversitySAUSouth Asian UniversityTU #79Tezpur UniversityTripura UniversityTripura UniversityDU #5University of DelhiUoH #18University of HyderabadVBUVisva-Bharati University

AMU - Aligarh Muslim UniversityAU - Allahabad UniversityAUS - Assam UniversityBBAU - Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar UniversityBHU - Banaras Hindu UniversityCAU - Central Agricultural UniversityCSU - Central Sanskrit UniversityCTUAP - Central Tribal University of Andhra PradeshCUAP - Central University of Andhra PradeshCUG - Central University of GujaratCUH - Central University of HaryanaCUHP - Central University of Himachal PradeshCUJ - Central University of JammuCU Jharkhand - Central University of JharkhandCU Karnataka - Central University of KarnatakaCUK - Central University of KashmirCU Kerala - Central University of KeralaCUO - Central University of OdishaCUP - Central University of PunjabCURAJ - Central University of RajasthanCUSB - Central University of South BiharCUTN - Central University of Tamil NaduDHSGU - Dr. Hari Singh Gour UniversityRPCAU - Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture UniversityEFLU - English and Foreign Languages UniversityGSV - Gati Shakti VishwavidyalayaGGV - Guru Ghasidas VishwavidyalayaHNBGU - Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal UniversityIMU - Indian Maritime UniversityIGNOU - Indira Gandhi National Open UniversityIGNTU - Indira Gandhi National Tribal UniversityJMI - Jamia Millia IslamiaJNU - Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityMGAHV - Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi VishwavidyalayaMGCU - Mahatma Gandhi Central UniversityMU - Manipur UniversityMANUU - Maulana Azad National Urdu UniversityMZU - Mizoram UniversityNagaland University - Nagaland UniversityNU - Nalanda UniversityNSU - National Sanskrit UniversityNSU - National Sports UniversityNEHU - North Eastern Hill UniversityPU - Pondicherry UniversityRGNAU - Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation UniversityRGU - Rajiv Gandhi UniversityRLBCAU - Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural UniversitySSCTU - Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal UniversitySLBSNSU - Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit UniversitySU - Sikkim UniversitySCU - Sindhu Central UniversitySAU - South Asian UniversityTU - Tezpur UniversityTripura University - Tripura UniversityDU - University of DelhiUoH - University of HyderabadVBU - Visva-Bharati University

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