Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan debuted in the 2016 Asian university rankings released by London-based education and career consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

XU secured a spot in the 251-300 bracket in the QS University Rankings, released on Tuesday, June 14.

“I am very pleased to inform the community that Xavier University was included in the 2016 Asian university rankings released by Quacquarelli Symonds,” XU president Fr Roberto C Yap SJ said. “The QS University Rankings Asia highlights the top 350 Asian universities.”

Xavier is one of the eight Philippine universities which were included in the said list, along with the University of the Philippines (#70), Ateneo de Manila University (#99), De La Salle University (#143), University of Santo Tomas (#157), Ateneo de Davao University (#251-300), Silliman University (#251-300), and University of San Carlos (#301-350).

The indicators used in the QS University Rankings were:

• Academic reputation (30%), of which XU ranked 8th among PH universities;
• Employer reputation (20%), of which XU ranked 6th among PH universities;
• Faculty-student ratio (15%), of which XU ranked 4th among PH universities;
• Citations per paper (10%), of which XU ranked 5th among PH universities;
• Papers per faculty (10%), of which XU ranked 8th among PH universities;
• Staff with a PhD (5%);
• Proportion of international faculty (2.5%) and of international students (2.5%); and
• Proportion of inbound exchange students (2.5%) and of outbound exchange students (2.5%).

“These criteria by which top universities are evaluated are important to consider in our quest to become a leading ASEAN university forming leaders of character by 2033,” Yap said.

“We congratulate and thank our students, faculty, administrators and staff who practice magis in fostering exceptional institutional quality, excellent program outcomes in teaching, research, creative work and relevant community service,” the Jesuit university president added.

First published in 2009, the QS University Rankings for Asia has adopted this year the Faculty Area Normalisation Approach to bibliometric data to ensure that publications and citations are weighted equally across the five broad faculty areas (Arts & Humanities, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences & Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences & Management).

The results were also generated from the five years’ worth of data (from 2012 to 2016), according to QS.

Founded in 1933, Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan was the first to be granted the University Status (in 1958) among the five colleges affiliated with the Ateneo system in the Philippines, becoming also the first university in Mindanao.

In consonance with the ASEAN Economic Integration, Xavier envisions to be a leading ASEAN university engaged in teaching, research, formation, and social development while upholding the pursuit of knowledge and truth, dialogue with religions and cultures, and care for the environment and creation. ∎