p>UST WAS again the top-performing school in the recent Interior Design, Education, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Civil Engineering, and Librarian licensure examinations, but scored low in the Chemical Engineering board exams.
The University posted an 88 percent passing rate in the CPA exam and was the top-performing school in the 100 examinees and more category, as 273 of the 311 Thomasian examinees passed. Ateneo de Davao (68 percent) and University of San Carlos (58 percent) ranked second and third, respectively.
Six Thomasians made it to the top 10, led by fourth placer Francis Angel Reyes with 91 percent. Miken Padilla, Alissa Star Reyes, and Gibson Tan (90.43 percent) shared the eighth spot, while Cris Leo Villanueva (90.57 percent) and Jerlynne dela Cruz (90.29 percent) placed seventh and ninth, respectively.
This year’s national passing rate was 41.68 percent, higher than last year’s 36.65 percent, as 2,888 of 6,929 examinees passed.
UST also ranked first in the Interior Design licensure exam under the 25 or more examinees category, with a 60 percent passing rate. Fifty-five of the 92 Thomasian examinees passed, led by topnotcher Carla Mae Leonor who garnered the highest mark of 87.40 percent. The other five Thomasians in the top 10 were Michael Tolentino (85.45 percent), Mauro Nepomuceno (84.70 percent), Karissa Trinidad (84.45 percent), Brillantine Sanchez (84.35 percent), and Lora Alfonso (84.15 percent), who placed fourth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, respectively.
This year’s national passing rate reached 50.21 percent, higher than last year’s 42.39 percent with 119 of 237 examinees passing the test.
“Placing first in the board exam was just a bonus. When my adrenaline stabilized, my happiness really came from knowing that a lot of my batchmates and friends passed and that UST was the top-performing school,” Leonor said.
She said her Thomasian education as well as her “winning attitude” helped her gain the top spot.
Civil Engineering board examinee Mark Mambil placed second with 96.85 percent, leading 71 other Thomasians who passed. UST garnered an 83-percent passing rate, higher than the national passing rate of 47.27 percent.
UST also made it to the top three performing schools in two categories in the Education licensure exam.
In the secondary level, the University was named top performing school in the 100 to 299 examinees category as 134 of the 162––or 83 percent––of the Thomasian examinees passed. Saint Louis University (76 percent), ranked second while Mariano Marcos State University Laoag College of Education (71 percent) and Philippine Normal University-Agusan (71 percent) tied for third place.
In the elementary level, UST placed third with 94 percent as 44 of its 47 examinees passed. De la Salle University–Manila (100 percent) placed first while University of the Philippines–Diliman (97 percent) was second.
In the Librarian board exams, UST posted a 61-percent passing rate as 11 of the 18 examinees passed. Thomasian Anna Pe?aranda placed seventh with an 86.10 percent score.
UST had a dismal performance in the Chemical Engineering test, posting only a 42-percent passing rate with only 19 of the 45 Thomasian examinees passing.
The national passing rates for the Librarian and Chemical Engineering exams were 30 percent and 52.94 percent, respectively.
