MANILA, Philippines – The Ateneo de Manila University continues to lead Philippine schools as the top university based on the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, released on Wednesday, September 27.

Ateneo placed in the 1,000-1,200 bracket. Other Philippine universities that also placed in the world university rankings are the University of the Philippines (1201-1500), De La Salle University (1501+), and the University of Santo Tomas (1501+).

The 2024 iteration of the rankings also marks the first time UST placed in the rankings after getting a reporter status – indicating a university “provided data but did not meet our eligibility criteria to receive a rank” – in the 2023 list.

It’s also noted that Ateneo and UP saw a significant drop in their rankings compared to their 2023 placement at the 351-400 and 801-1,000 brackets, respectively, after THE adopted a new methodology for the 2024 edition.

Universities are still assessed based on five areas: teaching (29.5%), research environment (29%), research quality (30%), international outlook (7.5%), and industry (4%).

However, the 2024 list expands the number of performance indicators from 13 to 18. The new indicators include the tweaking of the citations criteria to research quality to include research strength, excellence, and influence; and the number of patents.

Mapua University, which ranked 1,501+ in the 2023 list, was relegated to reporter status.

Other Philippine universities which received reporter status are Cebu Technological University, Central Luzon State University, University of Eastern Philippines, Mariano Marcos State University, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, Tarlac Agricultural University, and Visayas State University.

“This year’s ranking analyzed more than 134 million citations across 16.5 million research publications and included survey responses from 68,402 scholars globally. Overall, we collected 411,789 data points from more than 2,673 institutions that submitted data,” according to THE.

It adds that most of the universities joining the world university rankings for the first time for the 2024 edition come from Asia.

Meanwhile, the University of Oxford topped the THE ranking for the eighth year in a row. Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and the University of Cambridge complete the top five universities.

Reaction from PH universities

Ateneo de Manila University president Fr. Roberto “Bobby” Yap said in a statement that the school’s placement as the top Philippine university in the latest THE rankings is “proof that our work in teaching, research, and social engagement is recognized here at home and abroad.”

“These rankings are only guideposts in our journey as a university. So today we celebrate, and let us make this piece of good news an additional source of inspiration as we continue to work to be a force for good in the world,” he added.

Meanwhile, UST Office of the QS/THE Rankings deputy director Nestor Ong told The Varsitarian that the university’s ranking in the 2024 list was a “three-month initiative our office initiated with Elsevier and other research partners to count…research publications from the UST Hospital.”

He adds that UST should continue to strengthen its research capabilities to retain and improve its performance in world university rankings. – Rappler.com