BY ALEXANDRIA SAN JUAN
Fourteen universities in the Philippines were listed as among the best higher education institutions (HEIs) in Asia based on the Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) latest university rankings released on Wednesday.
The University of the Philippines (UP) still led the 14 local HEIs at 69th place, up three notches from previous published rankings, out of the 650 universities in the Asian region.
This is followed by the Ateneo De Manila University at 135th place, De La Salle University at 166th, and the University of Santo Tomas at 186th – all dropped from their rankings last year.
Also included in the list are the University of San Carlos in the 451-500 bracket; and Mapua University and Siliman University both in the 501 to 550 bracket.
The seven universities were also in the previous QS rankings for Asia, while seven more Philippine institutions made it to this year’s list.
These include the Ateneo de Davao University which also joined the 501 to 550 bracket, and the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology in the 551-600 bracket.
Joining the top 601+ are Adamson University, Central Luzon State University, Central Mindanao University, Central Philippine University, and Xavier University.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said this year’s edition is the country’s “best-ever performance and representation” in QS, a global higher education think-tank and compiler of the world’s university rankings.
CHED Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III commended on Thursday the 14 ranked HEIs and attributed this development to the “internationalization of Philippine HEIs” which he said has been a key strategy of the administration to improve the quality of education and produce world-class graduates.
“The recognition given to the additional HEIs as among the best in Asia is welcome news to show that our efforts to provide access to quality education are bearing fruit,” De Vera said.
