What makes a university ‘top’?

University rankings occasionally shape the narrative of perception as to which school you come from, especially for Filipinos, where terms like ‘top university’ or ‘Big 4’ are often determinants. But if these systems use varying criteria, the results determine more than just who ‘tops,’ because excellence is defined not as a single standard but as different measures.

Why rankings feel like everything

Many students pride themselves on attending a top university. More often than not, a hierarchy of belief is followed, where higher rank equates to prestige, better opportunities, and bragging rights.

Because in the Philippines, university rankings influence both education and perception, especially with the prestige of belonging to the ‘Big 4.’

Every year, different University Rankings are released, each with their own systematic evaluations of higher education institutions based on personal criteria. For Filipinos, these rankings become more than just numbers. It often dictates their source of pride, online debates, and even rivalries at times.

But the answer as to what exactly puts a university above another is based entirely on various criteria that don’t follow a single standard.

Who decides what ‘top’ really means?

With Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, they send reputation surveys to professors, universities, and employers. They mainly use the following indicators:

• Academic reputation: 40%
• Faculty/student ratio: 15%
• Citations/faculty: 20%
• Employer reputation: 15%
• Internationalisation: 10%

In its 2025 assessment, the University of the Philippines (UP) ranked first among Philippine institutions, while Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) ranked second, followed by De La Salle University (DLSU), University of Santo Tomas (UST), Adamson University, and Mapúa University, respectively.

If the QS World University Rankings assessed largely based on reputation, the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings judge research-intensive universities, following:

• Teaching: 29.5%
• Research environment: 29%
• Research quality: 30%
• International outlook: 7.5%
• Industry: 4%

In the THE Asia University Rankings 2026, ADMU led the Philippine ladder, followed by DLSU, Mapúa University, UST, and UP, respectively. 42 more Philippine universities got in as ‘reporter’ institutions, or those who submitted data but were not ranked.

Similar to THE University’s criterion, Webometrics judges based on how universities effectively perform and appear online, where its indicators evaluate:

• Visibility: 50%
• Transparency: 10%
• Excellence: 40%

As they mainly measure research and scholarly impact, their list in 2026 showed UP Diliman at the top, with DLSU Manila in second, followed by UP Manila, ADMU, and UP System, respectively.

Aside from Webometrics and THE University Rankings, EduRank evaluates over 14k universities, also basing one of their scores on research as follows:

• Research performance: 45%
• Non-academic prominence: 45%
• Alumni score: 10%

In EduRank’s 2026 ranking of top 100 universities, UP sustained their top rank, while DLSU was second and ADMU was in third, and UST and UP Los Baños followed, respectively. 

With these different organizations, not all rankings measure excellence the same way. After all, one assessment may prioritize research, while another focuses on employability. Because of this, a university can rank high in one standard but low in another, as different standards produce different results.

However, if these organizations are proof of anything, it is that no single ranking can fully define what makes a university ‘the best.’ 

Beyond the rank

These rankings are ultimately used to help people choose what fits them best, not as weapons used to fuel superiority or as a reason to look down on others.

At the end of the day, a university provides the environment, but it’s the student who defines the growth.