Six Philippine universities have made it to the 2025 Times Higher Education (THE) world university rankings, with Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) entering the list for the first time. This marks an increase from last year’s five ranked institutions.
Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines (UP) continue to hold positions in the 1001-1200 and 1201-1500 brackets, respectively, maintaining their rankings from last year. However, both institutions experienced slight dips in their overall scores, particularly in research quality and environment.
De La Salle University (DLSU), Mapua University, and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) remain in the 1501+ bracket, joined by newcomer MSU-IIT.
The inclusion of MSU-IIT brings the total number of ranked Philippine universities to six, despite the majority remaining in lower brackets compared to previous years. The 2023 update in THE’s evaluation methodology, which increased the performance indicators from 13 to 18, continues to affect university rankings globally, including those in the Philippines.
Despite the declines, Ateneo maintains the highest scores among Philippine universities in teaching and research quality, while UP leads in research environment and industry performance. UST, with an overall score of 10.5-25.1, stands out for its international outlook.
At least 15 other Philippine universities received a “reporter” status in this year’s rankings, meaning they submitted data but did not meet the criteria to be ranked. These include the Cebu Technological University, Central Luzon State University, and Saint Louis University, among others.
Globally, the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom retained the top spot for the ninth consecutive year, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University rounding out the top three. In Asia, China’s Tsinghua University and Peking University ranked 12th and 13th, respectively.
