THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas advanced to the 401-600 band in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) Sustainability Impact Rankings after staying in the 601-800 bracket for five consecutive years.
UST earned an overall score of 66.2-73.8 in four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that served as the basis for the assessment, a slight improvement from last year’s 65.6-70.2.
Among the SDGs, UST performed best in SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) with a score of 71.9-86.7.
UST scored 67.8-77.2 in SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 64.5-70.3 in SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and 74.9-80.5 in SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
The España-based university also marked its highest placement since 2020, when it landed in the 301-400 band.
Ateneo de Manila University retained its spot as the country’s top-ranked university despite slipping to 201-300 band from 101-200 band globally.
PH leads in global representation
The Philippines emerged as the most represented country in the global rankings, with 160 institutions making the list. It surpassed India, which had 110 universities in the 2026 edition.
More than half of the ranked institutions came from Asia, which accounted for 962 of the 1,646 universities assessed across 116 countries and territories.
THE chief global affairs officer Phil Baty said the rankings show that excellence in sustainability is not limited to traditionally dominant institutions and can be found across different regions worldwide.
“This rating system proves that excellence comes in many shapes, sizes, and context [and] not just from the traditionally dominant universities of the Global North,” he said.
The University of Manchester in the United Kingdom (UK) topped the international ranking while Griffith University in Australia placed second overall.
The UK recorded the highest number of universities in the global top 200 and led the individual SDG tables with five outright first-place finishes and three joint first-place positions.
Mali, Nicaragua, Niger and Tajikistan made their debut in this year’s rankings.
The results were released during the Global Sustainable Development Congress in Jakarta, Indonesia.
THE Sustainability Impact Rankings, previously known as Impact Rankings, has been evaluating higher education institutions since 2019. F
