Journal of Educational Sciences

Evaluation and Ranking of the Level of Development of University in the Provinces of Iran with TOPSIS Method

10.22055/edus.2025.48178.3668
Volume 32, Issue 2
December 2025
Pages 1-28
Journal of Educational Sciences

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Majid Darbandi 1
Sayed Amin Mansouri 2
seyed morteza Afghah 2
Mostafa Mohammadi Dehchehshmeh 3
Sajad Bahmani 4

1 M.Sc. of Economics, Department of Economics, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.

4 Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.

Abstract
This study evaluates and ranks the 31 provinces of Iran based on academic indicators for the 2019-2020 academic year, utilizing the TOPSIS method. The indicators encompass faculty members (categorized as Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and Instructor), visiting professors, as well as students and graduates at the PhD, Master’s, and Bachelor’s levels. The significance of this research lies in its potential to assist policymakers in addressing regional disparities by providing a clearer and more precise perspective. The research findings, however, reveal an imbalanced regional distribution of academic development, which necessitates a reassessment of regional policies to achieve the objectives of balanced regional development. The overall assessment of the university status in Iranian provinces indicates that two provinces, Tehran and Alborz, are classified as “developed,” while the remaining 29 provinces are considered “developing.” Notably, no province was categorized as “underdeveloped.” Furthermore, the results show that the academic development level of 26 provinces falls below the national average, a situation that requires considerable attention. This finding is indicative of the severe imbalanced development among the country’s provinces in the academic sector.

Keywords

Universities
Topsis
Entropy
Provinces of Iran
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