The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) extended the University of Santo Tomas-Manila's autonomous status for three years from Sept. 16, 2024, until Sept. 15, 2027.

According to Memorandum No. 7 by CHED, signed last Sept. 16, the University is one of the 77 universities in the country to be granted autonomy since 2002.

University Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P., said in a press release that “UST must not just maintain quality and excellence but elevate these to a higher level."

He also acknowledged the community's hard work during the CHED's screening period from 2019 to 2023.

Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Cheryl Peralta also affirmed Fr. Ang's statement on the importance of "focusing on efforts to strengthen quality assurance mechanisms at the institutional, unit, and program levels to improve existing and develop innovative programs and services."

Among all autonomous institutions, UST can launch new programs for undergraduate and doctorate degrees and impose an increase or decrease on tuition fees without CHED's approval.

The University is also exempted from CHED's monitoring and evaluation activities while complying with the submission of the commission's requested data for its management information systems and projects.

CHED is mandated to prioritize financial grants to autonomous higher education institutions (HEIs) for assistance in funding.

The commission assessed the University based on the criteria laid out in Memorandum No. 6, Series of 2023, which looks at the HEIs' Commitment to Program Excellence for 30 points, a 40-point criteria on Excellence in Instruction, Scholarly Works, and Community Engagements, and Institutional Quality and Excellence worth 30 points.

Recognitions from various university assessment networks such as the ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUNQA), Philippine Accrediting Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA), Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities (PAASCU), Times Higher Education (THE), Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS), and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) affect the scores.

CHED also noted the challenges universities hurdled in reaching a specific level in the indicators due to restrictions made by the COVID-19 pandemic on distance learning.