Top Philippine universities slip in 2025 QS Asia Rankings; UP still leads pack

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines maintained its position as the country's leading university despite dropping to 86th place in the 2025 QS Asia University Rankings released Wednesday, November 6. Other top Philippine universities also fell in the rankings.

UP fell eight spots from its previous 78th ranking among more than 900 Asian universities evaluated by global education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). It scored 60.6 points.

The country's three other premier institutions – known collectively with UP as the "Big Four" — all recorded lower positions:

• Ateneo de Manila University fell to 142nd from 137th, scoring 49 points
• De La Salle University dropped to 163rd from 154th, with 44.4 points
• University of Santo Tomas slipped to 181st from 179th, scoring 42 points

Meanwhile, nine schools outside of Metro Manila broke into the rankings for the first time, marking a significant expansion of Philippine higher education representation in the annual QS Asia rankings. The newcomers include:

• Central Mindanao University (851-900)
• Cebu Technological University (851-900)
• Central Luzon State University (851-900)
• Central Philippine University (851-900)
• West Visayas State University (901+)
• Angeles University Foundation (901+)
• University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (901+)
• University of Southeastern Philippines (901+)
• University of Southern Mindanao (901+)

The complete list of other ranked Philippine institutions includes:

• Adamson University (411-420)
• University of San Carlos (481-490)
• Polytechnic University of the Philippines (541-560)
• Mapua University (561-580)
• Siliman University (601-620)
• Far Eastern University (681-700)
• Ateneo de Davao University (701-750)
• Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (701-750)
• Saint Louis University (751-800)
• Lyceum of the Philippines University (801-850)
• Mindanao State University (801-850)
• Xavier University (801-850)

This brings the total number of Philippine universities on the prestigious list to 21, marking the highest representation of Philippine institutions in the QS Asia rankings to date.

The QS Asia University Rankings assess institutions based on academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, international research network, citations per paper and staff with PhD. 

This year, China's Peking University continued to hold the top spot, followed by the University of Hong Kong and the National University of Singapore.