Becoming a major university is typically something that takes decades, if not centuries, of effort. For many top institutions, the rankings that universities hold today are a reflection of years of building reputation, academic prowess, and successfully bringing in respectable research budgets.

But try telling that to Amity University. The not-for-profit’s first university was established only in 2005, and has already grown to be India’s top-ranked private university with 125,000 full-time students. It has also outperformed all other institutions in…