UST drops two spots, remains at No. 4 in 2025 QS Asia ranking

The University’s ranking fell to 181 from 179 last year in the Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) World University Rankings: Asia 2025, released on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

Despite dropping two spots, UST remained the fourth-highest-ranked university in the Philippines, improving its score to 42.0 from 28.7.

QS Communications Manager on Institutional Performance William Barbieri told TomasinoWeb, that although the university dropped in this year's rankings, it showed development in several performance indicators.

"UST has shown improvement in four of QS' indicators: Academic and Employer Reputation, International Research Network, and Citations per Paper,” Barbieri said. “Notably, it has made significant gains in International Research,” Barbieri said.

UST scored 21.1 in the International Research Network, soaring from its 2.1 score last year.

The University also excelled in the Outbound Exchange Students indicator, ranking 23rd among top performers and 78th in the Inbound Exchange Students.

Barbieri said the University's main challenge is the research output and personnel. It ranked outside the Top 500 for Citations per Paper (5.1), Papers per Faculty (2.7), and Staff with PhD (1.2).

University of the Philippines (UP) remained the No. 1 school in the country despite dropping eight spots from 78th to 86th. UP garnered an overall score of 60.6.

Ateneo de Manila University followed the list with a 49 overall score but also fell from 137th to 142nd rank.

De La Salle University's ranking dropped nine spots from 154th to 163rd. The university is the third top-performing school in the country and improved its overall score to 44.4 from 31.4 in the previous year.

Nine out of 25 schools assessed in the Philippines were newly-ranked in the 2025 edition, which are the following:

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