Ateneo de Manila University, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, announced that it has secured the top spot among Philippine institutions in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for the third consecutive year.
In a statement posted on its website, Ateneo said it maintained its position in the 1001-1200 range in the 2025 rankings released on Oct. 9.
Ateneo explained that the rankings are based on five pillars: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
The rankings per pillar are as follows: Teaching (29.5 percent of the overall score): ranked 744 globally; Research Environment (29 percent): 1673; Research Quality (30 percent): 928; Industry (4 percent): 1501; and International Outlook (7.5 percent): 1511.
“I congratulate everyone in the University—students, faculty, staff, administrators, and professionals—on this latest achievement,” University President Fr. Roberto Yap SJ said.
Yap noted that the Times Higher Education World University Rankings is global recognition that Ateneo de Manila is a top-performing university in the Philippines.
“However, rankings like these do not fully define what Ateneo stands for; they are merely tools for benchmarking and continual improvement as an institution,” he said.
“Our core mission remains the same: to educate and form minds and hearts to be of service to others, in a distinctly Filipino, Catholic, and Jesuit way,” he added.
Meanwhile, five other Philippine institutions earned rankings, while an additional 15 were classified as "reporter" institutions, indicating they submitted data but were not eligible for ranking.
First introduced in 2004, the THE World University Rankings is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative global rankings for higher education institutions.
The rankings are determined by evaluating institutions' performance in four key areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.
For the 2025 rankings, THE reported that a total of 2,092 institutions from 115 countries and territories were ranked.