In the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ASIA University Rankings 2021 edition, the University of Santo Tomas remains in the Top 200 universities in ASIA, 4th in Philippine Universities, and continues to perform consistently among the top 29% in the QS ASIA University Rankings.
Thirteen other Philippine universities, aside from UST joined the top 650 with the University of the Philippines leading the list of Philippine universities. The other universities included in the 2021 edition are: Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of San Carlos, Ateneo de Davao University, Mapúa University, Siliman University, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, Adamson University, Central Luzon State University, Central Mindanao University, Central Philippine University, and Xavier University.
As of this 2021 edition, there are 650 published institutions and 106 new entrants represented by 18 different locations in Asia. This year’s ranking has been constructed using 11 indicators, including Academic reputation (30%), Employer reputation (20%), Faculty-student ratio (10%), International research network (10%), Citations per paper (10%), Papers per faculty (5%), Staff with a PhD (5%), International faculty (2.5%), International students (2.5%), Inbound exchange students (2.5%), and Outbound exchange students (2.5%).
“The methodology used to create the ranking is similar to that used for the QS World University Rankings, but with some additional indicators and adapted weightings,” QS explained on its website. According to QS, the set of criteria was developed in consultation with regional experts and stakeholders and was “designed to reflect key priorities for universities in Asia, drawing on as much available data as possible.” Quacquarelli Symonds is a global higher education think tank. Released annually since 2009, the QS Asia University Rankings highlights the top universities in Asia each year.
“Based on the analysis that we made in the absence of QS Data Analytics in last year’s ranking results, which is still applicable to the latest 2021 edition ranking results, in the past three years, the ‘all responses’ significantly improved from 60 in 2018 and 106 in 2019 up to 157 in 2020,” explained Engr. Nestor R. Ong, deputy director of THE Rankings Office, the office that is responsible for directing and monitoring the efforts of the various sectors of the University vis-à-vis the standards of the QS University Rankings.
“Therefore, let us continue with all our efforts to draw out the strengths of our University despite the pandemic, as well as the potential opportunities to improve in our future performance. Our University should continuously work together toward stronger international research collaboration, more international presence in global academic engagement/activities, more virtual networking strategies to build new contacts, and more data-driven actions and plans,” Ong added.
