CHED to develop roadmap to boost Philippines HEI ranking

MANILA, Philippines —  The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is currently developing a “national strategy” that would chart the roadmap for improving the performance of the country’s universities and colleges, also referred to as higher education institutions (HEIs) in global rankings.

In a press statement, the CHED said that last May, during the first National Higher Education Summit, President Marcos had directed the commission to craft a “comprehensive and all-encompassing strategy for internationalization.”

“In response, the Commission is currently developing a national strategy that will provide a roadmap for enhancing the country’s performance in global rankings and ensuring the continued growth and development of its higher education system,” CHED said.

The commission issued the statement as the country’s HEIs remained in the bottom half of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 released on Wednesday.

The THE report showed that the Philippine HEIs were lagging behind their Southeast Asian counterparts.

Ateneo de Manila University remained the top Philippine university in THE’s 2025 world university rankings, remaining in the 1,001-1,200 bracket.

The University of the Philippines – which has been leading the country’s universities in most international assessments – was named second best for two consecutive years as it remained in the 1201-1500 bracket.

Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology breached the world rankings, debuting at the 1501+ bracket joining De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas and Mapùa University, which have been occupying the bracket since last year’s edition.

Despite the HEIs’ poor performance in the THE global rankings, the CHED is seeing a positive development in the Philippine higher education’s “internationalization” and “global academic reputation.”

“The continuing annual increase in the number of Philippines HEIs that are subjecting themselves to international assessment and ranking is indeed outstanding. The fact that these HEIS are joining the list of the top universities not just in THE rankings but also in the other international ranking bodies shows the globalized outlook and competitiveness of our public and private universities,” CHED chairman Prospero De Vera III said.

De Vera cited the increase in the number of HEIs included in various education global rankings, from 52 last year to 87 as of June 2024.

In its report, the THE said that overall, the Philippines’ top universities showed gradual progress this year but lagged in some key areas, especially in terms of improving on teaching, research quality and industry as opposed to the faster pace at which its counterparts in Asia are improving on their performance indicators.

The highest rank a Philippine university achieved in THE was within the 351-400 bracket when ADMU debuted in the world rankings in the 2023 edition.