5 PH universities slip in QS World rankings; UP still top-performing
MANILA, Philippines — Despite “intensifying global competition,” five universities from the Philippines still made it into the latest QS World University Rankings, but saw themselves drop from their previous standing.
The latest edition listed the higher educational institutions in the Philippines between 401-1400 out of more than 1,500 universities across 106 countries and territories, with the University of the Philippines (UP) again identified as the country’s top-performing at 402nd place.
Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) came next at 581; De La Salle University (DLSU) at 751-760; University of Santo Tomas (UST) at 951-1000; and Adamson University (AdU) at 1201-1400.
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However, QS noted that all five universities dropped in rank compared to the previous edition: UP from 362, ADMU from 511, DLSU from 654, UST from 851–900, and AdU from 1001–1200.
This was also the case of over 660 of the institutions worldwide, QS said.
More than 330 universities had the same ranking as in 2026, while over 400 “improved.”
For QS Senior Vice President Ben Sowter, the Philippines has recognized “the role higher education will play working towards its ambition of creating a prosperous, predominantly middle-class society as part of the AmBisyon Natin 2040.”
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“However, this year’s results suggest that global peers are advancing at a faster pace, be that in research intensity, sustaining international partnerships or ensuring the best graduate outcomes,” he said.
Among the five Philippine universities, ADMU and DLSU “improved” in the “sustainability” indicator, while ADMU also rose by 15 places in the “employment outcomes” indicator, ranking 142nd globally.
AdU, meanwhile rose in the “international faculty” indicator.
As of 2027, the number of universities from the Philippines within the top 40 percent worldwide has risen from zero in 2017 to two, QS said.
For Sowter, “the global higher education system is having unprecedented changes, “with more universities appealing to international students and scholars while fluctuating research funding availability and changes in the workplace are driving alterations in the international research and tertiary education landscape.”
QS explained that the latest rankings suggest that “Filipino institutions are not keeping up with advances seen in other higher education systems” worldwide.
“It is vital that institutions in the Philippines are supported with the right frameworks and government assistance to ensure that they keep up with the global advances seen elsewhere” in the world, said Sowter.
READ: Philippine education crisis: A ticking time bomb
As QS pointed out, for internationally mobile students from the Philippines, “a changing landscape means that universities in a wider range of study destinations are increasingly appealing to them as study options that will put them on the path to success.”
It stressed that across the world, “competition in the higher education ecosystem is evolving as governments seek to attract international students and researchers, and develop new access to research funding.”
Top 10 universities
Based on the list, the top 10 universities were still the same, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology emerging on top for the 15th consecutive year.
Imperial College London and Stanford University were tied at 2nd, while University of Oxford emerged as the 3rd top higher educational institution.
Harvard University ranked fifth, while the University of Cambridge, California Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, UCL, and the National University of Singapore completed the top 10.
Looking at previous results, INQUIRER data scientist and UP associate professor, Dr. Alicor Panao, said that in the context of the Philippines, UP was in the lead in both academic and employer reputation, which measure how institutions are perceived by scholars and employers worldwide.
READ: UP is top Philippine university in Asia, says QS rankings 2025
As he said, the previous rankings showed differing institutional strengths, with DLSU having the highest citations for each faculty score among the three universities from the Philippines that emerged in the top 800.
ADMU, meanwhile, had the strongest score in international faculty and international student ratios.
Panao said these findings suggest that Philippine universities continue to maintain visibility in global rankings while pursuing different improvement pathways.
“At the same time, the comparison with leading universities in Asia and the world highlights areas where further gains may be possible, particularly in research impact, internationalization, and global academic engagement,” he said. /dp
