Ateneo, UP lead 10 Philippine schools joining World University Rankings

Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines are ranked among the globally-ranked universities in the recently released 2023 Times Higher Education World University Rankings list.

This year's performance is a dramatic increase from the two Philippine universities—UP and De La Salle University—that were ranked in 2019.

"The dramatic increase in the number of internationalized Philippines HEIs (higher education institutions) show that our universities continuously benchmark themselves with the best universities in the world and are improving their programs, faculty, and facilities to produce graduates that are globally competitive and industry-matched. In other words, an increasing number of Philippine HEIs are globally competitive and world-class," Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero De Vera III said.

ADMU entered the top 301-400, which is the highest ranking ever received by any Philippine university in THE WUR rankings.

The 10 globally ranked HEIs are:

Ateneo de Manila University (301-400)

Cebu Technological University (Reporter)

De La Salle University (1201-1500)

Mapua University (1501+)

Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (Reporter)

Tarlac Agricultural University (Reporter)

University of Santo Tomas (Reporter)

University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (Reporter)

University of the Philippines (801-1000)

Visayas State University (Reporter)

To add to this milestone, the entry of five state universities and colleges in the rankings is also the highest number of Philippine public universities making it in any world university rankings.

The 2023 THE WUR is considered the most diverse and largest ranking published by THE, with 1,799 universities across 104 countries and regions participating.

THE WUR is one of the most definitive lists of world's best research-led institutions. The insights and data curated from this list have been adopted as a geopolitical indicator as well as an aid to strategic management of institutions and a crucial factor in the study choices made by millions of students around the world and their employment prospects.

"The latest ranking is critical to achieve the directive of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. that Philippine HEIs must produce industry-ready graduates for the local and international employment market," De Vera added.

The list covers 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution's performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. Harvard tops the teaching pillar, while Oxford leads the research pillar. Atop the international pillar is the Macau University of Science and Technology.

In encouraging Philippine HEIs to pursue a programmatic and holistic approach in their internationalization strategy, CHED said it prioritizes the bridging of Philippine higher education to a world-class status through breakthroughs in internationalization and Transnational Higher Education to create milestones in nation-building and economic recovery.

This means a complete recalibration of the internationalization strategy by aligning it with the CHED Strategic Plan 2022-2028 and the thrusts of the Marcos administration.