UP still top Phl university despite QS ranking fall

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines remains the top tertiary education institution in the country even as it fell five spots in the latest Asian university rankings released by education information provider Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

UP ranked 75th among Asian universities this year, down from No. 70 last year. It garnered an overall score of 57.3 percent, almost a point lower than last year’s 58.4 percent.

Meanwhile, unlike UP, the three other Philippine universities in the top 200 have all improved their rankings.

Ateneo de Manila University climbed from No. 95 to No. 99, while De La Salle University improved from No. 143 to No. 134.

The University of Santo Tomas rose from No. 157 to No. 145.

Based on the rankings, two other Philippine higher education institutions are in the top 400: University of San Carlos, which retained its 301-350 rank, and Siliman University, which fell from the 251-300 bracket to 351-400.

The Ateneo de Davao University and Xavier University, which were in last year’s rankings, did not make it to the top 400 this year.

The QS university rankings in Asia are based on the following criteria: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, citations per paper, papers per faculty, proportion of international faculty and students, and proportion of inbound and outbound exchange students.

The Nanyang Technological University in Singapore took over the top spot from the National University of Singapore, which fell to second place. They were followed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the University of Hong Kong.

Completing the top 10 are the Tsinghua University (China), Fudan University (China). City University of Hong Kong, Peking University (China) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Over 100,000 apply for UPCAT

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 graduating senior high school students have applied for admission to the UP, a university official told The STAR last Tuesday.

Citing information from the university’s Office of Admissions, UP vice president for public affairs Jose Dalisay said close to 103,000 applicants were recorded for the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) on Oct. 21-22.

Dalisay, however, said the number may be reduced to about 85,000 once they finish processing the eligibility requirements of the applicants.

The expected number of applicants is significantly higher than the 6,000 examinees who took the exam last year.

The increase is attributed to the implementation of the K-12 reform program, which added two years to basic education in the country.

The last time UPCAT examinees breached the 80,000-mark was in 2014, when a record-breaking 87,000 students took the entrance test. Over 15,000 passed the test that year, admission records show.