A TOTAL of 50,067 aspiring Thomasians applied for the UST Entrance Test (USTET) for the academic year 2024-2025, significantly higher than last year’s 42,993 applicants, the Office for Admissions (OFAD) said.
Data obtained by The Flame showed that as of Jan. 31, there are 39,996 college applicants, 2,484 of which are for the Learning-Enhanced Accelerated Program for Medicine (LEAPMED). Senior high school (SHS), including UST Angelicum SHS, reached 9,438 applicants, while junior and education high school aspirants totaled 633.
The latest figure is higher by about 14.13% or 7,074 USTET examinees than the number from the previous year.
OFAD Director Assoc. Prof. Emelda Dakis said the admission process for the 2024 USTET, the first since the lifting of the COVID-19 state of emergency, was “much easier” than the previous year.
“The health protocol applied during the conduct of the USTET 2024 required less restrictions than that for the USTET 2023,” Dakis told The Flame.
Stricter USTET regulations were previously imposed by the University due to COVID-19-induced restrictions, with the number of examinees assigned per room being limited to 20 to 35, lower than the usual 40 to 45.
USTET 2024, which began on Oct. 22, drew 10,510 applicants during the first batch. The final batch of examinees for SHS from UST-JHS and EHS will take USTET on Feb. 4.
Aside from the España campus, provincial and international testing centers were put in place since Sept. 9, 2023 to accommodate applicants who took the exam from their respective regions.
International testing centers were also set up in Al-Khobar of Saudi Arabia, Doha of Qatar, Dubai of United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Hong Kong of China.
The USTET results will be released in April this year.F
