THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) has doubled the number of its ranked subjects from last year by securing spots in four out of 11 disciplines in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject.
However, UST failed to meet THE’s eligibility criteria in the majority of the assessed subjects, namely, arts and humanities, business and economics, computer science, engineering, law, physical sciences and psychology.
The University maintained its standing in education studies (formerly education), placing in the 501–600 bracket and in the medical and health subject (formerly clinical and health), which remained in the 601–800 range.
For the first time, the University earned placements in life sciences (801–1000 band) and social sciences (1001+ category).
The España university has again expanded its rankings in the assessment, having placed in only two subjects last year and a single discipline in the 2024 edition.
Based on THE’s inclusion criteria, the addition of life sciences and social sciences indicates the University has now met the publication and faculty thresholds in these fields.
Meanwhile, a “not ranked” status means the University provided data but did not satisfy the minimum number of research papers published over the last five years and a specific percentage of faculty members dedicated to the subject.
UST Office of QS/THE Rankings Director Asst. Prof. Nestor Ong said the University would continue to “build on prior gains” as it seeks broader eligibility for THE’s rigorous criteria.
“UST aims to enter more subject fields by boosting research, faculty development and interdisciplinary collaborations to meet THE eligibility thresholds. Steps include targeted investments in publications and international partnerships,” Ong told The Flame.
He added that the results show the University’s ability to meet THE’s standards on publication volume, citations and industry ties, even if only selected subjects were ranked.
Medical and health, life sciences, physical sciences and computer science each require at least 500 publications. Arts and humanities require 250, while 200 are needed for social sciences and business and economics.
The remaining disciplines have a lower threshold for papers: psychology (150) and education studies and law (100).
Education studies, law, computer science and psychology need at least 1% of total academic staff or a minimum of 20 full-time equivalent faculty members.
The other subjects require a higher threshold of 5% or 50 teaching personnel, except for engineering and social sciences (4% or 40 instructors).
THE subject rankings uses 18 indicators to evaluate institutions across five categories: teaching (29.5%), research environment (29%), research quality (30%), international outlook (7.5%) and industry (4%).
In the latest edition of the THE World University Rankings 2026 released in October, UST remained the third-best Philippine institution as it landed once again in the 1501+ range.
THE World University Rankings, first released in 2004, assesses research-intensive universities worldwide based on teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.
THE’s subject rankings covers 148 individual disciplines to determine an institution’s performance within a particular field of study. F
