The University of the Philippines (UP) remains the top public higher education institution in the country in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) rankings, released on Oct. 9. UP is ranked second in the Philippines and falls within the 1200-1500 bracket globally. It is bested only by Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University, which leads the local rankings, placing first in the Philippines and in the 1001-1200 range globally.
UP is followed by two other private higher education institutions: De La Salle University, ranked third in the country and placed in the 1501+ category globally; and Mapua University, which ranks fourth locally and also placed in the 1501+ bracket worldwide. Wrapping up the top five is another public institution: the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, which also ranked in the 1501+ range globally.
UP’s rank has remained unchanged since last year, when it was also the top public higher education institution in the country and positioned in the 1201-1500 bracket worldwide. In 2023, UP placed in the 801-1000 bracket globally, and in 2022, it was in the 601-800 bracket.
In terms of subject areas, UP scores the highest in Clinical and Health Studies, where it ranks 501-600 worldwide. This is followed by Arts and Humanities, and Education, where the university places 601+ in both areas respectively. In Social Sciences, as well as Business and Economics, UP is in the 801+ category, while in Life Sciences, it ranks 801-1000. Meanwhile in Physical Sciences and Engineering, the university landed in the 1000+ range among higher education institutions worldwide.
As for the performance indicators used by THE, UP ranked highly in International Outlook, with a 37.9 score. Unfortunately, this accounts for only 7% in the computation of the overall ranking of a higher education institution. In terms of Research, the university scored 35, which accounts for 30% of the total ranking.
The university also had a very high ranking in Industry, with a score of 26.9. This category, however, only accounts for 4% of the total ranking. In terms of Teaching, UP scored 25.3, with the category comprising 29.5% of the rank of a higher education institution. And as for Research Environment, UP scored 16.9 in a category which would comprise 29% of the overall ranking. Overall, the UP System has a score ranging from 25.2 to 30.6.
In THE World University Rankings 2025 the University of Oxford ranked first, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in second place. Harvard University ranks third, Princeton University fourth, and the University of Cambridge rounds out the top five.
For a full list of the rankings of Philippines higher education institutions, click here.
For the full list of THE World University Rankings 2025, click here.
