THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) remained the Philippines’ best private university despite dropping 11 notches in the AppliedHE Private University Ranking: ASEAN 2024.
In the latest edition of the assessment, UST fell from fifth to 16th among ASEAN’s best-performing private universities.
The University’s overall score also slipped to 63,32 this year from 65,17 last year.
Despite the lower ranking, UST retained its spot as the best private university in the country. It was followed by newly-ranked universities Ateneo de Manila University (18th), Manila Central University (19th) and De La Salle University (24th).
Thirteen other private universities in the country made it to the ranking for the first time, including Trinity University of Asia (30th), Silliman University (34th) and University of Perpetual Health System Laguna (48th).
UST performed best in institutional reputation (9,67), ranking second in the region. However, it lost its spot in peer reputation, internationalization, community engagement and graduate employability, which ranked fourth, ninth, eighth and sixth, respectively, last year.
Private universities were judged based on teaching and learning (40%), employability (20%), research (10%), community engagement (10%), internationalization (10%) and institutional reputation (10%).
For its 2024 edition, the AppliedHE Private University Ranking adjusted its weights for employability and research, which equated to 15% last year. It also increased its total participating private institutions across the ASEAN region to 80 from 24 previously.
Sunway University (72,42) in Malaysia ranked best among all private universities in the region, followed by Thailand’s Krirk University (69,93) and UCSI University (69,19), also in Malaysia.
Launched in 2022, AppliedHE Private University Ranking is the first ranking system for private higher education institutions for the ASEAN region that measures each participating university’s performance according to the criteria set.
The annual ranking report aims to provide stakeholders with an independent benchmark for comparing universities against their peers within the region.F
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