THE UNIVERSITY improved five spots to 11th in the 2025 AppliedHE Southeast Asian Private University Rankings, but slid to No. 2 among Philippine private schools.
UST scored 71.36 in the latest edition, up from 63.32 in 2024 where it ranked 16th. However, it snapped its two-year streak of being the best private Philippine university as it dropped to second.
Ateneo de Manila University narrowly overtook UST as the top private institution in the Philippines, placing 10th in Southeast Asia with a score of 71.39.
UST dropped to seventh place in the institutional reputation metric, placing behind De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University, which ranked third and fifth, respectively.
It failed to make a return to the top 10 of the internationalization and community engagement metrics.
De La Salle University ranked 16th in Southeast Asia with 69.27 points, followed by Saint Louis University with 65.96 points (23rd), and Southville International School and Colleges with 65.38 points (26th).
A total of 43 Philippine universities entered the latest AppliedHE rankings, up from last year’s 21.
The number of ranked private schools from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam went up to 100 from 80 last year.
Sunway University in Malaysia remained the top private university in the region with a score of 80.64. Bina Nusantara University in Indonesia climbed to No. 2 from No. 6, scoring 78.32 overall.
The AppliedHE rankings assessed the performance of private universities using six metrics: teaching and learning (40%), employability (20%), research (10%), community engagement (10%), internationalization (10%), and institutional reputation (10%).
