Ateneo de Manila University is now the leading tertiary school in the Philippines, topping University of the Phillipines on a “problematic survey” that the UP itself did not participate in. This is based on The Times Higher Education-Quacquarelli Symonds (THE-QS) World University Rankings 2008.

The ranking was based on criteria including peer and employer review, faculty-student ratio and citations of teaching staff (UP perhaps got low points on these categories: employer review, faculty-student ratio).

Ateneo Tops UP in World List on a “Problematic Survey” - Ateneo Official Seal

The survey revealed that the Jesuit-led Ateneo was leading the pack in the Philippines, followed by UP, De La Salle University or DLSU, and finally University of Santo Tomas or UST.

University of the Philippines (UP), ranked No. 2, falling from the top position in 2007. But the UP dismissed the results of THE-QS’s study saying the surveyor’s “methodology is problematic”.
Ateneo leaped from between 400th and 500th position last year into 254th place. Ateneo ranks between London’s School of Oriental and African Studies and the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain.

UP, the country’s premier state university fell 20 places short of Ateneo. It is now in 274th place, up from 398th last year. UP was placed between two German universities—the University of Hamburg and Ulm University.

DLSU and UST are both fresh entries and they ranked 415th and 470th, respectively. Both DLSU and UST were not in the top 500 last year.

Of course Ateneo was happy about the result. The Inquirer on the other hand reported that UP raised doubts on the survey’s validity, saying the university did not take part in this year’s survey.
University of the Philippines vice president for public affairs Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo said the state university did not join because the survey organizers refused to disclose where and how they got their data.

“Since it does not specify who are surveyed or what questions are asked, the methodology is problematic,” Hidalgo added.

For this year’s survey, UP was not invited to participate, she said.

Hidalgo said UP president Emerlinda Roman only received an e-mail message from QS Asia Pacific director, Mandy Mok, notifying her that UP had “gone up in the rankings.”

The QS e-mail also informed UP that it could advertise in the 2009 Top University Guide and join the university fair for a fee of $49,000, Hidalgo said.

“UP can hardly be expected to spend more than P2 million on publicity for itself involving a survey conducted by an organization that refuses to divulge where it obtains its data,” Hidalgo said.
Question, did Ateneo pay P2 million? How can you win a contest you didn’t even join?