Ateneo rises to 141st in QS Asia rankings; remains top PH private university

Advancing one place from last year, Ateneo de Manila University maintains its standing as the Philippines’ top private higher education institution in the 2026 QS World University Rankings: Asia, released on 4 November 2025.

Ateneo ranked 141st among 1,526 institutions across the region, earning an overall score of 61.6. This is an improvement from its 142nd placement in 2025.

The ranking is based on a set of indicators that QS noted were “slightly modified compared to the global rankings to paint an accurate picture of the priorities of universities in Asia.” The company added that the regional list aims “to give a more specialised view of higher education in the region.” 

The global rankings released in June this year showed Ateneo placing =511st globally.

Ateneo received the following scores across ranking criteria:

• Overall: 61.6
• Academic Reputation: 80.3
• Employer Reputation: 97.1
• International Research Network: 64.2
• Faculty–Student Ratio: 56.3
• Inbound Exchange: 43.5
• Staff with PhD: 30.2
• Outbound Exchange: 31.8
• International Students: 14.9
• International Faculty: 9
• Citations per Paper: 8.1
• Papers per Faculty: 7.7

Within Southeast Asia, Ateneo placed 35th.

In the Philippines, the University of the Philippines is still the highest-ranked institution at 104th, followed by Ateneo (141st), De La Salle University (=178), University of Santo Tomas (=184), and others including Adamson University (464), University of San Carlos (=507), Mapúa University (=544), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (=671), and Silliman University (=694).

Fellow Jesuit universities Ateneo de Davao University (851–900) and Xavier University (951–1000) also appeared in the regional list.

Topping this year’s rankings are the University of Hong Kong (1), Peking University (2), and National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University (both tied at 3).

More information is available through QS.