MANILA — Three Philippine universities improved their standings while two institutions slipped a few notches in the 2025 QS world university rankings.

The University of the Philippines made the most significant improvement in the latest QS rankings, ascending to 336 from 404. UP is also No. 18 in Asia, according to the UK-based higher education company.

The Ateneo de Manila University is now at 516 from 563, while the De La Salle University also made strides as it rose to 641-650 from 681- 690.

The University of Santo Tomas slipped to 851-900 from its previous 801-1,000. The Cebu-based University of San Carlos — which debuted in the 2024 edition of the QS rankings at the 1,201-1,400 bracket — also fell to 1401+.

READ: University of San Carlos joins QS world university rankings alongside UP, ADMU, DLSU, UST

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States is still the leader among all universities in the world for the 13th consecutive year, QS said.

"Imperial College London jumps four places to take second and the University of Oxford and Harvard University are in third and fourth place respectively. The University of Cambridge rounds out the top five," it said.

The National University of Singapore also retained its top spot in Asia while staying No. 8 in the world.

QS said the 2025 world university ranking "is the largest ever," which featured over 1,500 universities across 105 higher education systems.

QS also said it had employed its "largest-ever methodological enhancement" which introduced 3 new metrics such as sustainability, employment outcomes, and international research network.