Ateneo keeps its place at the top of Philippine universities in global ranking

For the fifth year running, Ateneo de Manila University has remained the Philippines’ highest-placed institution in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, landing in the 1001–1200 range in the 2027 edition.

The result puts Ateneo among 2,297 universities assessed across 118 countries and territories. More revealing than the overall bracket, the university made its strongest showing through its research quality.

Ateneo recorded a score of 66.9 in the category, a notable rise from 52.4 in 2024. That placed it 705th worldwide for research quality, giving the university its clearest showing in an area that measures rather more than how many books are stacked in a library.

Ateneo first appeared in the THE rankings in 2022 as an unranked institution. It moved into the top Philippine position in 2023 and has held it since. Its 2027 placement also leaves its global band unchanged from the previous year.

Behind Ateneo in the Philippine table is the University of the Philippines, which falls within the 1201–1400 bracket. The University of Santo Tomas is in the 1601–1800 range, followed by De La Salle University and Mapua University in the 1801–2000 bracket. Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology is listed in the 2001+ category.

The global picture offers another story. The University of Oxford remains at No. 1 for an 11th consecutive year, while Asian universities continue to make a stronger appearance near the top. Tsinghua University rose to 11th, ahead of Switzerland’s ETH Zurich, while Peking University and the National University of Singapore occupied 13th and 15th place, respectively.

THE’s assessment looks at five broad dimensions in the form of teaching, research environment, research quality, industry and international outlook.