The Philippine capital has dropped below the top 100 in the latest global ranking of the best cities for university students, landing at 102nd after holding the 88th position just a year ago.
The 14-place slide, recorded in the QS Best Student Cities 2027 compiled by London-based higher education firm Quacquarelli Symonds, pushed Manila out of a tier it had occupied in the previous cycle. The city closed with an overall mark of 60.1 out of 100.
QS traced the drop chiefly to two soft spots: how Manila’s universities stack up worldwide and how appealing its graduates are to employers, according to a statement the firm sent to The Manila Times. The city’s frailest result came on the university-strength measure, where it managed only 27.9 points.
The bright spot remained cost. Manila logged 83 points for affordability, its strongest individual figure, followed by 64.4 for employer activity, 53.5 for student view, 35.6 for student mix, and 32.1 for desirability.
QS said the capital could recover ground abroad by raising the caliber and global visibility of its institutions while building further on its low living costs and employer ties. The firm added that broader international engagement and a richer student experience would help its longer-term standing as a study destination.
Manila’s fall came alongside a wider setback for Philippine higher education. Philstar reported that all five local universities included in the 2027 QS World University Rankings — each of them in Metro Manila — lost ground in their standings this year.
Elsewhere in the table, Seoul again claimed the top spot with a perfect 100, its second consecutive year at number one, ahead of Tokyo and London. The rest of the leading 10 comprised Munich, Sydney, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Zurich.
QS assessed 150 cities across 59 education systems for the 2027 edition, weighing six categories: university standing, student mix, desirability, employer activity, affordability, and student view. Asia contributed 52 of the ranked cities, Manila among them, trailing Europe’s 62.
To make the cut, a city needs more than 250,000 residents and at least two universities listed in the current QS World University Rankings — a bar that, as Philstar noted, excludes noted academic towns such as Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
