6 Philippines universities earn spots in QS rankings; Adamson, Mapua make debuts

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines led six Philippine universities in the 2026 Quacquarelli-Symonds World University Rankings, placing at 362 even as Adamson University and Mapua University joined this year’s rankings.

Over 1,500 of the world’s top universities were included in the 2026 edition of the QS World University Rankings, with over 100 locations represented around the world.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been ranked as the best university in the world with overall score of 100; sustainability – 93.8; employment outcomes, 100; academic reputation,100; employer reputation, 100; international faculty ratio, 100; international students ratio, 91.6 percent; faculty-student ratio, 100; international research network, 94.1; and international students diversity, 92.3.

It has held the title in the last 14 years.

UP fell from its ranking of 336th with overall score of 40.9; sustainability, 68.9; employment outcomes, 80.8; academic reputation,50.6; employer reputation, 71.1; international faculty ratio, 2.4; international students ratio, 1.2 percent; faculty-student ratio, 42.7; international research network, 66.4; and international students diversity, 5.7.

Meanwhile, Ateneo de Manila University was ranked 511 from its previous ranking of  516.

De La Salle University was at 654 from its previous 641-650 bracket.

University of Santo Tomas ranked between 851 and 900.

Meanwhile, Adamson University and Mapua University joined the global rankings this year at 1,001 to 1,200 and 1401+ rankings, respectively.

The report said that nearly 500 universities have improved their performance since last year, adding that the biggest climber is Sunway University in Malaysia, which has risen over 120 places and ranked at 410.

The University of San Carlos, previously ranked 1401+ in the 2025 edition, failed to make it to the latest edition.

Imperial College London placed second, followed by Stanford University in third; University of Oxford,  fourth; Harvard University, fifth; University Cambridge, sixth; ETH Zurich, seventh; National University of Singapore, eighth; UCL, ninth; and California Institute of Technology, 10th.

The QS World University Rankings evaluated universities based on nine performance indicators: academic reputation (30 percent), citations per faculty (20 percent), employer reputation (15 percent), employment outcomes (5 percent), international faculty (5 percent), international research network (5 percent), international students (5 percent), faculty-student ratio (10 percent), and sustainability (5 percent).