THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas retained its spot as second-best among Philippine schools, despite posting lower scores in some performance indicators in the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings.
UST remained within the 601-800 bracket along with three other Philippine institutions. It obtained an improved overall score of 23.3-30.8, higher than last year’s 13.6-28.2.
Ateneo de Manila University emerged as the top institution in the country, ranking within the 501-600 band. UST tied with the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University and Mapua University within the 601-800 bracket. Meanwhile, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology placed third at 801+.
The University of the Philippines fell from last year’s 501-600 band, after previously tying with the Ateneo de Manila University for the top spot in the country.
THE assessed the institutions based on five indicators: teaching (24.5%), research environment (28%) and research quality (30%). Other areas considered are industry (10%), which examines universities’ contributions to innovation and their research income from industry; and international outlook (7.5%), which captures the schools’ ability to attract undergraduate and postgraduate foreign students.
UST’s performance
The University made the highest progress in teaching, rising from 23.6 in 2025 to 27.4 this year.
While its research quality improved significantly by 5.6 points in 2025 compared to 2024, it maintained its score this year at 26.9.
The España-based campus saw slight gains in the research environment (12.2 from 11.7) and industry (21.1 from 20.4).
However, the international outlook score continued to decline, dropping from 64.4 last year to 59.5. In 2024, UST recorded a score of 67.
THE Asia University Rankings used the same metric for its 14th edition, but the “weightings are recalibrated to reflect the priorities of Asian institutions.”
Forty-two schools in the country obtained a reporter status, which is given to institutions that submitted data for evaluation but did not meet certain eligibility criteria for ranking. Among them are the National University of the Philippines, Polytechnic University of the Philippines and De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde.
China maintained its lead in the university rankings, with five of its institutions occupying the top 10 spots. Tsinghua University and Peking University remained first and second, respectively. They were followed by the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, the University of Tokyo, the University of Hong Kong, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The rankings covered 929 universities from 36 Asian countries, an increase from 853 last year.
The Times Higher Education is a publication firm that annually releases a roster of the best institutions worldwide through assessments. F
