The University of the Philippines is now in the top 100 for Asia in two of the world’s most influential university rankings, after placing 95th in the newly released 2019 Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings.

Since 2017, the national university has featured in the THE rankings for Asia but this is the first time that it made the top 100.

UP soared 61 places from its 156th position in 2018 to sit in the upper 23 percent of 417 universities from 27 countries for 2019. It is one of only five universities from Southeast Asia in the top 100, with two from Singapore and the other two from Malaysia. UP remains the highest ranked university from the Philippines.

The Asia University Rankings use the same 13 indicators of the World University Rankings, though “recalibrated to reflect the priorities of Asian institutions,” to gauge the performance of research-intensive universities across the region. The indicators are grouped into five areas: teaching (the learning environment), research (volume, income and reputation), citations (research influence), international outlook (staff, students and research), and industry income (knowledge transfer). Citations and research are the biggest determinants of scores at 30 percent each.

UP secured a place in the top 600 in the 2019 THE World University Rankings announced in October last year. Its rise in the global rankings has been consistent, from its debut at the 801-1,000 bracket in 2017 to its jump to 601-800 in 2018 and to 501-600 in 2019.

Earlier this year, London-based THE also published the rankings for universities in emerging economies where UP made a 79-place leap to 87th, and in the Asia-Pacific region where UP edged into the 101-110 bracket from 150-160 in the previous year.

For the fifth year running, UP was in the top 100 of the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) Asia University Rankings, holding the 72nd spot in 2019. The rankings published by British company QS are also among the most recognized in the world.