FOR the third straight year, Ateneo de Manila University retained its ranking as the top university in the Philippines, according to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking.
The 2025 rankings released yesterday showed Ateneo ranked in the 1,001-1,200 bracket and the state-run University of the Philippines in the 1,201-1,500 bracket.
“I congratulate everyone in the University–students, faculty, staff, administrators, and professionals–on this latest achievement,” Ateneo University President Fr. Roberto Yap said in a statement.
“The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is a global recognition that Ateneo de Manila is a top-performing university in the Philippines. However, rankings like these do not fully define what Ateneo stands for; they are merely tools for benchmarking and continual improvement as an institution,” he added.
In the 2024 and 2023 ranking, Ateneo was ranked at 1,001 to 1, 200 and 801 to 1,000 bracket.
De La Salle University, Mapua University, University of Sto. Tomas and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology were ranked in the 1500+ bracket.
Fifteen other Philippine universities were listed as “reporter” institutions, meaning they participated in the ranking process and provided data but did not meet the eligibility criteria to receive a rank.
These include the Cebu Technological University, Central Luzon State University, De La Salle College of St. Benilde, Lyceum Northwestern University, Manila Central University, National University, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, Philippine State College of Aeronautics, Quezon City University, Saint Louis University, Tarlac Agricultural University, University of Eastern Philippines, University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, University of the Immaculate Concepcion and Visayas State University.
For this round, THE said a total of 2,092 institutions from 115 countries and territories were ranked.
The rankings are based on THE Five Pillars, namely, teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
The rankings per pillar are as follows: Teaching (29.5% of overall score), Research Environment 29%), Research Quality (30%), Industry (4%), and International Outlook (7.5%).
Oxford University retained its top spot in the ranking for the ninth consecutive year, bolstered by significant improvements in industry engagement and teaching, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology rose to second, overtaking Stanford, which dropped to sixth.
Harvard University climbed to third, one notch from its previous place, while in fourth and fifth places were Princeton University and University of Cambridge, respectively.
In seventh and eighth places were California Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley.
Rounding up the ninth and tenth places were Imperial College London and Yale University.
First launched in 2004, the World University Rankings is one of the most authoritative global higher education ranking tables.
The rankings are based on institutions’ performance in teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.
