THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas remained the sole Philippine higher education institution to earn five stars or an “excellent” badge in the 2025 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Stars University Ratings.
In the latest edition of the assessment, UST received various ratings for nine out of 18 key areas and subcategories.
The University achieved five stars anew for teaching, facilities and employability. It also attained the same rating in social impact and global engagement.
According to QS, the five-star badge signifies schools “with reputations as international powerhouses of innovation and state-of-the-art facilities.”
“[T]hese universities foster environments where complex research tackles global challenges. Leading faculty from around the world bring expertise into the classroom, ensuring students learn from the best in their fields. This combination of elite resources and educators produces graduates who are eagerly recruited by top employers globally,” QS said.
Compared to the previous assessment in 2021, the España university’s rating dropped in medicine, which qualified as its specialized area, by one rating to four stars. It also fell by a notch to four stars in terms of academic development.
Meanwhile, the University retained its mark in arts with three stars, while good governance was rated three stars.
Mapúa University, Lyceum of the Philippines University and Mariano Marcos State University were among the six Philippine institutions that earned four stars or a “very good” rating in 2021. A total of 29 schools in the country received three stars or a “good” rating, including Central Luzon State University, Saint Louis University (Philippines), and Polytechnic University of the Philippines. The University of Southern Mindanao was the lone institution with a two-star rating.
The institutions were evaluated across five key areas: employability, global engagement, learning experience, research and innovation, and sustainability. These are divided into sub-categories: academic development, arts, diversity and inclusion, employability, environmental impact, facilities, global engagement, good governance, innovation, social impact, subject rankings, teaching and entrepreneurship.
QS Stars has six ranks overall, namely five stars plus (outstanding), five stars (excellent), four stars (very good), three stars (good), two stars (moderate), and one star (satisfactory).
UST held the distinction as the first Philippine institution to receive a four-star and five-star rating in 2015 and 2021, respectively.
Launched in 2009, QS Stars comprehensively evaluates universities across various performance indicators to help students choose the best school for their interests. F
