The University of the Philippines (UP) is steadily climbing in the roster of the world’s best universities, according to the London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings. UP has gone from the top 44 percent universities in the 2016 rankings to the top 27 percent in the 2024 rankings.
Data from the latest QS World rankings shows that with outstanding scores in terms of its reputation among employers and global academics, and employment outcomes of its graduates, UP also moved up in rankings from 412th out of qualified 1,422 institutions in the 2023 rankings to 404th out of 1,503 qualified institutions in the 2024 rankings.
Being in the top 27 percent means that UP has surpassed more than 73 percent of all the ranked institutions. In the rankings of the previous year, it surpassed 71 percent.
In the Philippines, UP remains the number one institution, surpassing four others in terms of “academic reputation”, “employer reputation”, “faculty-student ratio”, “international research network”, and “sustainability”.
“Employer reputation is our strongest indicator this year,” the UP Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs said. “Employer reputation evaluates the perceptions of global employers, through a survey, on which institutions are providing the most job-ready graduates”
Among world universities, UP ranked 136th in employer reputation, 57 places higher than in the previous rankings. In terms of a new indicator, employment outcomes or the impact of graduates in their chosen fields, UP is ranked 213th. UP also rose 12 places in academic reputation, now ranking 250th.
UP also placed high, 370th, in another new indicator: sustainability or the social and environmental impact of universities as centers of education and research.
Still above median in the new indicator of international research network, UP ranked 685th.
The University Philippines System is composed of eight constituent universities and one autonomous college located in 17 campuses throughout the whole country. With more than 50,000 students, 6,000 faculty members, and close to 10,000 administrative, research, extension, and professional staff, UP offers 563 undergraduate and graduate programs.
Recognizing recent shifts of universities from the traditional priorities of academic institutions, the QS World University Rankings this year adopted a new methodology which they believe will highlight what they perceive as “the changing needs and expectations of students, society and globe.”
The 2024 QS World University Rankings ranks universities through nine “performance lenses” with corresponding weights: (1) academic reputation, 30 percent; (2) citations per faculty, 20 percent; (3) employer reputation, 15 percent; (4) employer outcomes, 5 percent; (5) faculty-student ratio, 10 percent; (6) international faculty, 5 percent; (7) international research network, 5 percent; (8) international students, 5 percent; and (9) sustainability, 5 percent.
Additional reference: institutional press release provided by QS for UP
