2 Philippine universities among top 100 in Asia

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED 5:35 p.m.) — The University of the Philippines (UP) and Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) were named among the 100 top universities in Asia in an annual list by Quacquarelli Symonds.

The QS University Rankings: Asia released Tuesday ranked UP 70th in Asia with an overall score of 58.40, retaining its 2015 ranking. AdMu, meanwhile, scored 47.80 to land at 99th place, leaping from 114th last year.

The regional rankings, stemming from the original world list, are based on consultation with regional experts and stakeholders. QS said in its methodology that the set of criteria is "designed to reflect key priorities for universities in Asia, drawing on as much available data as possible."

Key indicators for the study are academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, citations per paper and papers per faculty, staff with doctorate degrees, proportion of international faculty and students, and proportion of exchange students.

UP, whose flagship campus is in Diliman, Quezon City, earned a score of 74.8 in terms of academic reputation, 87.9 in employer reputation and 69.2 in faculty-student ratio. It has a student population of 53,160.

Ateneo's Manila campus, on the other hand, scored 59.1 in academic reputation, 59.1 in employer reputation and 55.4 in faculty-student ratio. It has a student body of 12,172.

Beyond the top 100, six other Philippines-based university figure in the chart, with the De La Salle University making a major jump from 181st place last year to 143rd this year.

The University of Santo Tomas ranked 143rd last year was this year surpassed by De La Salle, dropping to 157th place.

Ranking among the top 300 universities in Asia, meanwhile, are Ateneo de Davao University, Silliman University, Xavier University and the University of San Carlos.

In Asia, the National University of Singapore was hailed as the best institution of higher learning by the QS ranking, with an overall score of 100. It was followed by the University of Hong Kong and the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore at ranks second and third, respectively. — Camille Diola; Infographic by Jonathan Asuncion