AN OFFICIAL of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) lauded the University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) improved standing in the 2023 QS Asia University Rankings despite the “fiercer” competition brought about by new entrants in the region.
“This year, with the inclusion of five Central Asian countries and Iran in the rankings, the competition has become even fiercer,” QS Senior Vice President Ben Sowter told The Flame in an email interview.
“UST must be proud of having improved year-on-year as universities must continually improve even to remain in the same position,” he added.
Sowter cited UST’s score improvement on employer reputation, the QS indicator dedicated to identifying universities that produce the highest-quality graduates using the result of a “major international survey” with graduate employers.
“In particular, being named among the top-100 Asian universities for employer reputation is a recognition of the standing UST and its graduates enjoy among international employers,” he said.
UST ranked 175th in Asia, two spots higher than its previous ranking. It ranked fourth among 16 Philippine institutions included in the rankings, bested only by the University of the Philippines (87th), Ateneo de Manila University (134th) and De La Salle University (171st).
This year, UST achieved its best performance in the following indicators: Outbound exchange students (18th in Asia), international faculty (54th in Asia), inbound exchange students (55th in Asia), and employer reputation (95th in Asia).
Gains in research-related indicators also contributed to the University’s two-notch improvement in the Asian ranking, notably in international research network, which rose from 3.7 in 2022 to 5.1 in 2023, and paper per faculty, which went up to 3.3 this year from 2.1 previously.
UST Secretary-General Rev. Fr. Louie Coronel, O.P. welcomed the latest rankings, describing it as an “attestation” to the University’s “commendable” efforts in research, learning, and internationalization.
“We will continue intensifying our efforts [to] deliver quality education and disseminate noteworthy researches in keeping with our core values,” the UST Secretary-General told The Flame in an email interview.
“More than rankings and other promotional efforts, we don’t lose sight of the fact that we do this, first and foremost, to remain true to our mission of evangelization,” he added.
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UST is the only Philippine university among 16 higher education institutions that ranked higher compared to the previous year in the 2023 QS Asian University Rankings. F – Prince Ronson Sabado with reports from Aubrey Shane Lim
