Funding cuts taking toll on universities’ standing

■ No Filipino university makes it to the top 300 schools in the latest QS World Rankings

PHILIPPINE universities saw their rankings drop in the latest annual QS World University Rankings in 2011—with none of them emerging in the top 300 list—and apparently after the Aquino administration slashed its budget for higher education this year.

“No Filipino universities make the top 300 in latest QS World University Rankings,” international education advisory firm Quacquarelli Symonds says in a report released over the weekend.

“This may come as a disappointment, but possibly not a surprise as thousands of students recently took to the streets in protest of the government’s budget cuts in higher education,” QS said.

The London-based firm started its World University Rankings in 2004. It describes its list as the world’s most highly referenced global ranking of 700 universities, using its own methodology with six indicators.

Only four higher education institutions in the Philippines—University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, and University of Santo Toma—were included in the ranking, and all of them fell from their previous places in 2010.

“All four of the Filipino universities ranked in the annual QS World University Rankings have dropped places in the 2011/2012 edition,” the QS report says.

UP maintained its status as the top Philippine university at No. 332 in the global list in 2011, dropping 18 places from No. 314 in 2010.

Ateneo de Manila University, the second-ranked Philippine university, dropped even more, and by 53 places, to No. 360 in 2011 from No. 307 in 2010.

De La Salle University saw its ranking slide from the group ranking of 451 to 500 in 2010 to 551 to 600 in 2011.

Santo Tomas also dropped from the group ranking of 551 to 600 to the list of 601+.

The government cut its capital outlay for state universities and colleges while increasing the allocation for basic education for 2011.

The budget for the University of the Philippines system was reduced by as much P1.39 billion, and to P5.53 billion in 2011 from P6.9 billion in 2010.

Overall, the Aquino administration slashed the budget of the country’s 112 state universities and colleges to P23.4 billion in 2011 from P23.8 billion a year ago.

QS notes that a higher budget for universities supports a higher ranking in the survey.

“The 2011 QS World University Rankings give a clear illustration of the link between investment and results in higher education,” said John O’Leary, a member of the QS advisory board.

“Germany, Japan and South Korea and are among the other countries to have channeled extra support into a limited number of universities judged capable of international excellence.

“All have seen significant rises in the rankings by at least some of the beneficiaries, while countries that have cut funding for higher education have seen a gradual decline in the international standing of their universities.”

The global list was dominated by English-speaking universities based in the United States and the United Kingdom. The University of Cambridge in Cambridge, the United Kingdom, topped the global list for a second straight year.

It was followed by three American universities: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University. The University of Oxford, also in the United Kingdom, rounded up the top five list.

In the top 15 were Imperial College of London, University College London, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Michigan, and Cornell University.

Twenty US universities and 9 UK universities made it to the top 50. Outside those two countries, McGill University in Canada was ranked No. 17, while ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Switzerland emerged as No. 18.

University of Hong Kong was the highest ranked Asian university at No. 22, followed by the University of Tokyo at No. 25, National University of Singapore at No. 28, Kyoto University in Japan at No. 32, the Chinese University of Hong Kong at No. 37, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology at No. 40, Seoul National University in South Korea at No. 42, and Peking University and Tsinghua University in China at No. 46 and No. 47, respectively. –Roderick T. dela Cruz, Manila Standard Today