The World Rankings: Philippine universities still in bottom half

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine universities remained in the bottom half of this year’s edition of Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, placing the country behind its counterparts in Southeast Asia.

Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) remained the top Philippine university in THE’s 2025 world university rankings and retained its global rank within the 1,001-1,200 bracket.

The University of the Philippines (UP) – which has been leading the country’s universities in most international assessments – was named second best for a second time by THE as it placed in the 1201-1500 bracket again this year.

Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) breached the world rankings, debuting at the 1501+ bracket and joining De La Salle University (DLSU), University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Mapùa University, which have been occupying the bracket since last year’s edition.

MSU-IIT succeeded after two years of being under “Reporter” status. A “Reporter” is a college/university that sent data to THE but was found ineligible within the world rankings.

About 14 universities – nine of which are state-run institutions – were named reporters this year.

De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, Lyceum Northwestern University, Manila Central University, National University, Quezon City University, Saint Louis University, University of the Immaculate Conception and the Philippine State College of Aeronautics made their first attempt for the rankings this year.

Still under reporter status are Cebu Technological University, Central Luzon State University, University of Eastern Philippines, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, Tarlac Agricultural University and Visayas State University.

Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), which was under reporter status last year, did not opt for the rankings this year.

ADMU was the top overall performer in the indicators, scoring the highest in teaching and research quality.

UP, meanwhile, scored highest in research environment and industry, and UST was highest in international outlook.

DLSU, Mapua and UST improved faster in research quality but saw a decline in research environment and international outlook.

Overall, the country’s top universities showed gradual progress this year but lagged in some key areas.

The country’s performance in the THE world rankings was a consequence of lagging in improving on teaching, research quality and industry as opposed to the faster pace at which its counterparts in Asia are improving on their performance indicators, the report said.

This year, top universities in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Thailand landed in the upper half of the rankings, with the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University breaking into the top 30 for the first time. Meanwhile, the Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Malaysia landed in the top 250.

The highest rank a Philippine university achieved in THE was within the 351-400 bracket when ADMU debuted in the world rankings in the 2023 edition.

About 2,092 universities landed in the rankings this year.

Last year, the Commission on Higher Education said it provided MMSU a grant for a comprehensive analysis of the THE rankings using data across universities to determine areas where universities in the country are lagging and identify points to guide them in improving performance.

The Commission on Higher Education has yet to issue a statement on the country’s performance.