6 PH universities keep spots in 2026 Times Higher Education rankings

Six universities from the Philippines have maintained their positions in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, released on Thursday, October 9.

Ateneo de Manila University remained the country’s top institution for the fourth straight year, placing within the 1,001–1,200 band worldwide. The University of the Philippines (UP) followed in the 1,201–1,500 range.

De La Salle University (DLSU), Mapúa University, Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) all ranked within the 1,501+ band, sharing third place nationally.

According to the London-based higher education analytics firm, no new Philippine institutions entered the global list this year. 

However, THE noted “steady gains” in research metrics among the six ranked universities, with improvements observed in citations, international outlook, and research environment indicators.

Globally, the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom retained the top spot for the eighth consecutive year. It was followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in second place. Princeton University and the University of Cambridge shared third place, while Harvard University and Stanford University tied for fifth.

Rounding out the global Top 10 were the California Institute of Technology (7th), Imperial College London (8th), University of California, Berkeley (9th), and Yale University (10th).

In Southeast Asia, the National University of Singapore (NUS) led the region, holding 17th place worldwide.

THE noted that the performance of Asia’s top universities has stalled for the first time in 14 years, while the US continues to decline even before the effects of the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education show up in the data.

The THE World University Rankings 2026 evaluated over 2,000 institutions across 115 countries and territories, using indicators that measure teaching, research quality, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. —VBL, GMA Integrated News