PH’s No. 3: UST finally obtains rank in THE Asia University Rankings

*UST is the Philippines’ third-best school in the 2024 Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings. Photo by Von Zyron Alimorong/THE FLAME*

THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas finally secured a ranking in the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings, placing third among Philippine schools that participated in the assessment.

UST scored 14.7-24.0 overall and landed within the 601+ band in the region, its first-ever ranking since the assessment was launched in 2013.

THE Chief global affairs officer Phil Baty praised the University for its “great achievements.”

“We were delighted to see that the University of Santo Tomas entered the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2024 for the first time…Amid great and growing international competition, these are fantastic achievements,” Baty told The Flame through a representative.

Previously, UST was only given a “Reporter” status in the regional ranking due to its failure to reach the research publication threshold. The label is given to schools that submitted data but did not meet THE’s eligibility criteria.

This year’s edition used the same performance indicators of THE’s World University Ranking with modified weightings to “reflect the priorities of Asian institutions.”

Ateneo de Manila University maintained its rank as the top school in the country despite dropping to 401-500 from 84th overall. University of the Philippines and De La Salle University, both within the 501-600 bracket, tied for second place. Mapúa University (601+) shared the third spot with UST.

The institutions were assessed based on research quality (30%), research environment (28%) and teaching (24.5%). Other indicators were industry (10%), which determines an institution’s contribution to community innovations; and international outlook (7.5%), which measures a university’s international students, staff and research collaboration.

Among the ranked Philippine universities, UST was the best-performing school in terms of international outlook, also its highest-scored indicator at 67. The University also received its overall rank due to its score in other performance indicators, namely teaching (23.4), research quality (21.3), industry (20.7) and research environment (11.5), its weakest area.

Nine Philippine schools obtained a reporter status in the assessment, namely, Cebu Technological University, Central Luzon State University, Mariano Marcos State University, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, Tarlac Agricultural University, University of Eastern Philippines, University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines and Visayas State University.

Now in its 12th edition, THE Asia University Rankings was introduced as a counterpart of the world university rankings to “provide deeper and richer insights” of institutions within the region.

In the latest World University Rankings, UST also ranked third among Philippine institutions along with De La Salle University.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual publication that presents the roster of best institutions across more than a hundred countries and regions worldwide. It aims to “assess university performances on the global stage” based on research, impact and teaching. F – with reports from Zoe Airabelle Aguinaldo

(Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include all nine Philippine universities that obtained a “Reporter” status in the 2024 Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings.)