By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
It is a global recognition!
The Benguet State University is definitely carving an enviable niche in the educational firmament in the country. This is reflected especially in the ranking of EduRank released last Mar 15, 2026.
BSU is ranked a lofty no, 36 among the best 100 universities, colleges and other institutions of higher learning. The ranking was topped by the following ten schools known for their high quality standards, in descending order: U.P. Diliman, DLSU, ADMU, UST., UP Los Banos, UP Manila, Mapua, Univ. of San Carlos, Asian inst. Of Management, Silliman University.
In Northern Luzon, only U.P. Baguio (no. 29) ranked higher than BSU. SLU (#83), UB (#90), and UC(#99) also cracked the top 100 schools in the Philippines.
For the entire North-Central Luzon area, only 4 universities were higher-placed than BSU.
Edu Rank is an independent metric-based ranking of 14,131 HEIs in 183 countries. According to this ranking, BSU was ranked 2,567 in Asia and 6,702 in the world. Not bad being lumped in the higher half of the evaluated schools! And there is a big room for improvement. The ranking was based on research output(and academic publications), non-academic prominence, and alumni influence.
There a relatively newer university ranking worldwide called World University Ranking for Innovation (WURI).
If you look at the ranking you immediately see some lesser known schools ranked much higher than even established schools abroad. Many local HEIs rank so high, you immediately sigh a ton of doubt. For example, BSU ranked #127 but there so many local HEIs, including those in the Cordillera region that placed much higher than it. Urdaneta city University and Romblon State University for example are ranked 28th and 37th respectively. It is not to denigrate the 2 schools as they apparently could have their own good quality standards, but they hardly rank in other prestigious independent, international ranking systems.
So, others are incredulous, asking whether WURI is legit or not. That query seem to carry some grain of truth.
But let us dive a bit into the history of this.
WURI had its origin when 10 university presidents in Europe formed the Hanseatic League of Universities on April, 2018 in Groningen, the Netherlands. They agreed to establish a new World University ranking which they named World Universities with Real Impact. It was later renamed as World University Ranking for Innovation.
They invited 30,000 HEIs from around the world but they have yet to attain such number. Of course it was already worldwide in scope from the first WURI ranking that was started in 2020 albeit, on line.
WURI scores universities on their innovative programs, entrepreneurship spirit and social impact. So the core evaluation criteria is based on innovativeness, implementability, and impact of such to the community being served.
It uses 24 categories for the purpose. They include among others, the following: student support and engagement, student mobility and openness; industrial application; entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem; crisis management; ethica and integrity; SDG- and ESG-based response to past and present global challenges; interdisciplinary, convergent, and integrated research; curricular innovation for future readiness; AI-based teaching and learning transformation; social impact through knowledge transfer; inclusive social innovation for the underserved, university-based entrepreneurial project; and financial impact-driven technology transfer.
Why is it that many lesser known schools are getting high marks? I would think it is because such schools are taking WURI seriously thereby they go about aligning their activities with the 24 categories of evaluation of their innovative ideas, and accordingly documenting them. And as suggested by one resource person, there were excellent collaboration among school officials in highlighting their unique institutional practices.
WE, in CAR, should be happy to note that in this WURI ranking, all our SUCs (ASC, ASIST, BSU, IFSU, KSU, MPSU) and almost all HEIs in our region, including St. Louis Univ, Univ of Baguio, Univ of the Cordilleras, Cordillera Community Dev’t Col., King’s Col. of the Phil, STAR COL., Baguio Central Univ, and Pines City colleges, are rating high.
The current WURI ranking did not include the ten best universities in the country. But I believe they would eventually join as WURI is recognized by the Philippine govt through CHED. Besides, WURI has a more comprehensive evaluation system and is fast evolving into a more reliable and prestigious world ranking system.
Congratulations to BSU, U.P. Baguio and all mentioned CAR HEIs for the global recognition!**
