Only 5 in PH make list of Asia’s top universities

UP BY A NOTCH University of the Philippines now ranks 67th. RAFFY LERMA

Only five of the country’s universities, led by the University of the Philippines (UP), made it to this year’s list of top 300 Asian universities ranked by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

This was the lowest number of Philippine universities to make the cut since QS began ranking universities in Asia in 2009.

Last year, 14 of the country’s own made it to the list of Asia’s top universities, according to QS.

There were 15 Philippine universities on the 2011 list, 18 in 2010 and 16 in 2009.

UP’s ranking went up by a notch—to 67th—in the 2013 QS University Rankings for Asia released on Tuesday.

It was ranked 68th last year, 62nd in 2011, 78th in 2010 and 63rd in 2009.

This year Ateneo de Manila University was ranked 109th, down from its 86th ranking last year.

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) was ranked 150th, compared to 148th last year.

De La Salle University was ranked in the 151-160th range, down from its 142nd rank last year.

The University of Southeastern Philippines remained in the 251-300 range, where it was last year.

UP, Ateneo, La Salle and UST have consistently made it to the QS list of top Asian universities since the rankings began in 2009.

Missed the cut

The nine Philippine universities that were on last year’s list but did not make the cut this year were Silliman University, Xavier University, Saint Louis University, University of San Carlos, Ateneo de Davao University, Adamson University, Central Mindanao University, Mapua Institute of Technology and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

They were in the 301-plus rank last year.

These universities were among the Philippine universities that were consistently included in the QS ranking since 2009.

9 indicators

QS ranks universities worldwide according to nine indicators, mainly based on reputation and research citations.

The indicators are academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty and student population, citations per paper, international faculty, international students, papers per faculty, inbound exchange and outbound exchange.

QS started the ranking among Asian universities in 2009. From 2009 to 2011, it ranked the 200 top universities in the region. Last year it expanded the ranking to cover the top 300 Asian universities.

QS said it used a “slightly different” methodology from the one it used for the annual QS World University Rankings to “reflect the region’s different priorities.”

Top universities

This year’s top Asian universities were the same as last year.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology once more topped the QS ranking. Once again it was followed by National University of Singapore, University of Hong Kong and Seoul National University.

Last year’s sixth-ranked Peking University rounded up the top five this year.