THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) made its debut in the 2024 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings: Sustainability, where it placed fourth among the five Philippine universities that secured rankings.
UST landed within the 1001-1050 bracket worldwide, its first ranking since the assessment launched its pilot edition in 2022.
The performance of institutions was measured based on the metrics of social impact (45%), environmental impact (45%) and newly-added governance (10%). The weights of the subcategories under social impact and environmental impact were adjusted for this year’s assessment.
Across the three categories, UST obtained its highest rank in governance at 583rd.
It ranked 1001+ for environmental impact, which comprised three subcategories: environmental sustainability, the University’s highest-ranking sub-indicator (587th); environmental education (991st) and environmental research (1001+).
The España-based university also placed 1001+ for social impact, ranking 939th in the knowledge exchange subcategory. It obtained a 1001+ ranking for impact of education; health and wellbeing; equality; and employability and outcomes.
In a statement, QS CEO Jessica Turner described the QS Sustainability Rankings as a “cutting-edge tool” that measures the progress and efforts of institutions in facing existential challenges.
Citing the 2023 QS sustainability survey, Turner said 79% of potential international students view an institution’s sustainability efforts as extremely or very important, while 82% of students actively research such practices when looking for universities.
“This demonstrates a clear shift in priorities among today’s students who are increasingly weighing the social and environmental impact of their future alma mater alongside academic excellence,” she said.
A total of 1,397 institutions across 95 countries were ranked in the 2024 edition of the QS Sustainability Rankings, nearly twice more than the 700 universities that were featured previously.
The University of Toronto was deemed the world’s most sustainable university, followed by the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Manchester.
Launched on Oct. 26 last year, the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability aims to assess institutions’ actions against global issues through its “unique and detailed” framework. F
