KMC Mangalore’s latest published positions
Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Mangalore appears in three ranking statements on MAHE’s campus page, but they are not three versions of one score. MAHE reports KMC Mangalore at 35th in the NIRF 2025 Medical category and 28th in the India Today–MDRA 2026 Medical category. It also reports 1st in India Today–MDRA’s 2025 Infrastructure & Living Experience parameter. The category and year belong beside each position: the first two are overall positions in medical-college rankings, while the third is a single dimension within a different survey.
The India Today–MDRA table makes the year-on-year comparison more explicit. For “Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore,” it lists overall rank 28 for 2026 and 29 for 2025, and identifies the city as Mangaluru. Within that one publisher’s medical series, the position improved by one place. That is a small movement in ordinal rank, not proof that every aspect of the college improved by the same amount.
These records refer to the Mangalore campus. The same India Today table lists Kasturba Medical College, Manipal separately at 11th for 2026 and 13th for 2025. Those are not KMC Mangalore’s results. Check the campus name in any comparison, especially when a search page shortens both institutions to “KMC.”
What the India Today–MDRA figures show
The 2026 row reports a total score of 1,324.3. Its components are Intake Quality & Governance (IQG) 222.5, Academic Excellence (ACE) 187.3, Infrastructure & Living Experience (ILE) 95.5, Personality & Leadership Development (PLD) 139.9, and Placement & Career Progression (PCP) 132.2. The table also gives an Objective Score (O.S.) of 777.4 and a Perceptual Score (P.S.) of 546.9. These components describe how the publisher’s survey assembled this result; they are not marks from a common medical-college examination.
The displayed maxima are 300 each for IQG and ACE, 240 for ILE, and 180 each for PLD and PCP. The maximum O.S. is 1,200, the maximum P.S. is 800, and the total is out of 2,000. India Today–MDRA explains that the objective score combines data across its five parameters, using college data validated by MDRA; the perceptual score is based on a survey of faculty, students and recruiters. Its parameter descriptions include selection, cost and accreditation for IQG; faculty, research and alumni for ACE; campus facilities for ILE; activities such as interaction and projects for PLD; and salary and recruiter factors for PCP.
This makes the row more useful than the position alone: KMC Mangalore’s ILE component is 95.5 out of 240, while its ACE component is 187.3 out of 300. They describe different dimensions on different scales, so the raw values should not be compared as if they had equal weights. Nor does a high overall total erase a comparatively lower component. Applicants interested in campus experience can note the component and the separate 2025 ILE position, then verify current hostel, library, laboratory and clinical arrangements directly. The survey is a shortlist input, not a substitute for checking the features that matter to a particular student.
How to read the NIRF result
MAHE’s page identifies the NIRF 2025 Medical category position as 35th for KMC Mangalore. The Ministry of Education’s 2025 submitted-data profile separately identifies the institution as “Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore” under institute code IR-D-C-7251. This identity check matters because the similarly named Manipal campus has a different NIRF record.
NIRF’s 35th position should be read within its own Medical category and 2025 edition. The India Today–MDRA score of 1,324.3 and NIRF’s ranking output are not commensurate measurements; do not subtract one from the other, average their ranks, or describe either as confirmation of the other. They are separate frameworks with different scoring and reporting. The NIRF profile is an institution-submitted dataset, while the India Today–MDRA table describes its objective and perceptual scoring components.
The dates also matter. “NIRF 2025” names the edition in which a result was reported; it does not mean that the rank measures every change made at the college during calendar 2025. Likewise, a 2026 India Today rank is not an admission-cycle rule for 2027-28. The captured records establish these published positions, not a guarantee about future editions or future student outcomes.
Use rankings as one part of a shortlist
Start with the campus and programme you would actually attend. A national medical-category position cannot tell you whether the MBBS or a particular postgraduate specialty fits your learning needs, and the India Today ILE award is not a current inventory of facilities. For course-specific details, check the relevant KMC Mangalore programme pages, fee schedule, clinical training arrangements and recognition information. Ask the college or the responsible authority for the current documents where an answer affects your application or budget.
Then compare like with like. For movement over time, use the same publisher, category and campus. On the India Today–MDRA series shown here, the Mangalore institution moves from 29th in 2025 to 28th in 2026. Do not splice that series into NIRF’s 35th position or into a separate infrastructure component. A one-place change also needs context: the ranking page does not, by rank alone, show whether the change came from revised scores, a different set of participating institutions, or small differences among nearby colleges.
Finally, treat the sub-scores as prompts for questions rather than conclusions. If clinical exposure matters most, ask about affiliated teaching hospitals, rotations and the student’s actual training schedule. If campus conditions matter, inspect current accommodation and facilities. If cost or placement outcomes matter, use the relevant dated fee and cohort evidence rather than assuming the ranking score answers those questions. Rankings can help organise a shortlist; they cannot replace programme-level checks, current official notices or your own priorities.
Evidence date: this page uses the published NIRF 2025 and India Today–MDRA 2026 results available on 6 November 2026. No later NIRF Medical result was verified for this page. Recheck the responsible ranking publishers before relying on a later edition.