UP rank goes down in the world's top 400 universities

The Times Higher Education - Quacquarelli Symonds World University (THE-QS) 2008 rankings has been released and a lot of people, especially fellow UPians, are dismayed with the results.

Ateneo De Manila ranks 254, overtaking the University of the Philippines which ranked 276 this year. It can be remembered that a year ago, UP was at the 398th spot while ADMU was at 400-something.

The THE-QS is an annual study conducted by a London-based magazine. The ranking uses the following criteria: peer review (40%), faculty citations (20%), staff/student ratio (20%), recruiter review (10%), percentage of international students (5%) and percentage of international faculty (5%).

UP officials said they have refused to participate in the survey and asked the THE-QS representatives to respect their decision. But the university was still included in the study. Dr. Francisco Nemenzo, a former UP president, stated that the university does not fare well in the survey since the study puts too much weight on certain areas which the UP system does not prioritize. A clear example would be the percentage of international students and faculty. The University of the Philippines is proud to have Filipino professors who earned their masteral and doctoral degrees in UP or countries abroad. Whereas in the earlier years, most of the faculty members came from the US. Also, UP does not attract foreign professors because of the low salary it offers. Another thing, the university would rather accept Filipino iskolars than students from other countries.

Dr. Leticia Penano-Ho, a former UP College of Education professor said "UP can participate in these rankings but “never should UP be dependent on these external rankings in defining what it stands for".

De La Salle University ranked 415 while University of Santo Tomas ranked 470. The complete list may be viewed HERE.