It’s graduation season, yet here’s data to spoil everyone’s celebration: Not one university in the Philippines made it to the top 500 of Times Higher Education’s Asia University Rankings 2025.
This is the first time that no Philippine university has been in the top 500 since the University of the Philippines (UP) appeared in the 201 to 250 bracket in 2017.
The rankings were based on five criteria, namely: research quality, industry, international outlook, research environment, and teaching — using data submitted by the universities themselves.
Tracing the ranks
Looking back at the country’s top universities in the Times Higher Education rankings through the years, the most noticeable change was UP’s gradual decline, eventually losing to Ateneo de Manila University.
At first, UP was steadily improving. In 2018, UP climbed the ranks to 156, followed by 95 the following year.
Notably, De La Salle University (DLSU) also appeared for the first time in the 251 to 300 bracket in 2019.
In 2020, UP peaked at 65 while DLSU dropped to the 301 to 350 bracket.
The next year, UP was at 84 while DLSU dropped further to 400+.
By 2022, UP ranked at 129, DLSU at 401 to 500, and Ateneo first appeared as "Reported" (Unranked).
In 2023, Ateneo rose to rank 84, while UP was far behind at 201 to 250, DLSU at 501 to 600, and Mapúa University first appeared at 601+.
Then, all universities dropped significantly in 2024, with Ateneo at 401 to 500, UP and DLSU at 501 to 600, and Mapúa and the University of Santo Tomas at 601+.
Finally, this year, top universities in the country kept sliding down. Ateneo and UP were both ranked within 501 to 600, while De La Salle University, Mapúa University, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, and the University of Santo Tomas were ranked 601+.
Expensive education
If the rankings were to serve as a basis, quality education in the Philippines comes with an expensive cost.
In the latest rankings, only two are state universities, while the rest are all private — and quite expensive.
For School Year 2024 to 2025, Ateneo’s tuition fee for a semester of 20 units is ₱104,420, not including basic and additional fees.
UST listed their tuition fee at approximately ₱50,000 to ₱60,000 per semester, while FindUniversity lists Mapúa at ₱130,000 to ₱195,000 per year and DLSU at ₱205,000 to ₱225,000 per year.
Meanwhile, UP offers ₱1,500 per unit, based on their website. And since it is a government-funded university, UP offers a variety of support services to students.
Yet two problems still arise: expensive education that still fails to compete globally — even in Asia alone — and government-supported education with quality that is slowly fading away.
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