ATENEO de Manila University emerged anew as the country’s top university in the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings released yesterday.
However, Ateneo’s ranking (1,001 to 1,200th place) declined significantly compared to last year when it was ranked in the 351-400 group.
The state-run University of the Philippines also dropped from last year’s 801-1,000 ranking to 1,201-1,500 while De La Salle University also dropped to 1,500+ compared to last year’s 1,201 to 1,500.
The University of Santo Tomas retained its 1,500+ ranking in the list.
Mapua University, which was ranked in last year’s list, dropped to a “reporter” status in the latest ranking.
A “reporter” status, according to the Times, is an institution that participated in the ranking process and provided data to the Times Higher Education Act but did not meet the eligibility criteria to receive a rank.
Other Philippine higher education institutions in the reporter status were Central Luzon State University, University of Eastern Philippines, Mariano Marcos State University, Cebu Technological University, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, Visayas State University, and Tarlac Agricultural University.
A total of 1,904 higher education institutions from 108 countries across the globe met the criteria to be included in the latest rankings.
The criteria used to assess the universities’ ranking were research (30 percent), teaching (30), citations (30 percent), industry income (7.5 percent) and 2.5 percent for international outlook.
In addition to the 1,904 ranked institutions, a further 769 universities were listed under the reporter status.
The University of Oxford topped the ranking for the eighth straight year while Stanford University moved up to second, pushing Harvard University down to fourth.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology climbed up two places to third, while the University of Cambridge slipped to fifth after being in joint third last year.
The United States is the most represented country in the rankings, with 169 institutions, and also the most represented in the top 200, with 56.
Sought for a comment on the decline in the ranking of top Philippine universities, Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Prospero De Vera said it would be best to look at the criteria or areas where the country’s education institutions are not going up fast, like research.
“I have to study the data on this year’s ranking but based on previous years, here are some of the reasons: First, there are additional higher education institutions that joined the ranking, so, if the scores of the new or additional HEIs are high, they will be ranked higher than Philippine HEIs and the rank of Philippine HEIs will go down,” De Vera said.
“There are also existing or previously ranked HEIs that are improving their scores faster than Philippine HEIs because these HEIs are increasing investments in research, faculty development, facilities and others compared to Philippine HEIs, so they end up ranking higher than Philippine HEIs,” he added.
De Vera said if the total scores of Philippine universities ranked in the list have increased but their rank is lower, “then any of the two reasons above can apply.”
He said there is a clear need for Philippine universities to focus and improve, particularly in research.
The CHED chief also said the agency has provided a grant to the Mariano Marcos State University to do a comprehensive analysis of the Times ranking.
“The results will help guide Philippine higher education institutions on what they should do moving forward,” he said.
