University of the Philippines

The University of the Philippines (UP; Filipino: Unibersidad ng Pilipinas is a state public university system and the national university of the Philippines under Republic Act No. 9500. Established on June 18, 1908, by the American colonial government through Act No. 1870 of the First Philippine Legislature, it was founded as the country's premier institution of higher learning, and has a mandated role in national development through instruction, research, and public service.

The university's earliest academic units were established in Manila and Los Baños. In 1949, UP transferred several of its units to Diliman which became its new administrative center. In 1972, the university was reorganized into a multi-campus system of autonomous constituent universities.

Today, the UP System consists of nine constituent universities distributed across 23 campuses nationwide: UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, UP Manila, UP Visayas, UP Mindanao, UP Open University, UP Baguio, UP Cebu, and UP Tacloban.

UP also operates the Philippine General Hospital, the country's largest tertiary hospital. It likewise maintains specialized research and public service institutions involved in healthcare, natural sciences, agriculture, technology, and other fields of national importance.

History

Origins and early history (1900s–1920s)

In the late 19th century, many Filipinos pursued higher education in Spain and other European universities, highlighting the absence of a comparable institution in the Philippines that could provide advanced instruction across various fields. To address this need, the University of the Philippines was established on June 18, 1908, through . Act No. 1870 of the First Philippine Legislature, otherwise known as the "University Act". It was envisioned as the country's premier institution of higher learning, with a mandate to provide "advanced instruction in literature, philosophy, the sciences, and the arts and to give professional and technical training," regardless of "age, sex, nationality, religious belief, or political affiliation." Judge Newton W. Gilbert acted as president of the university since its establishment in 1908.

The university began with the organization of its first academic units. The earliest established in 1909 were the College of Agriculture and the School of Fine Arts. These were soon followed in 1910 by the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, Liberal Arts, Engineering, and Medicine and Surgery. The College of Law, founded in 1911, was the last of UP's founding academic units. Although the College of Medicine and Surgery officially became part of UP in 1910, it had already opened for instruction in 1907. This was in accordance with the University Act of 1908, which provided that the Philippine Medical School would be incorporated into UP as the College of Medicine and Surgery once two or more colleges had been established.

The academic units were initially spread across various locations, with most situated in Manila as it served as the main campus. The College of Agriculture was established in Los Baños, at the foot of Mount Makiling, while the School of Fine Arts opened in a private property on R. Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila. The remaining units were also based in Manila: the College of Medicine and Surgery on Herran Street (now Pedro Gil Street), the College of Veterinary Medicine in Pandacan, the College of Liberal Arts held classes on several locations including the Philippine Normal School, the College of Engineering on the site that later formed part of the Padre Faura campus, and the College of Law in a private property on Isaac Peral Street (now United Nations Avenue). The School of Forestry was likewise established in 1910 in Los Baños. At the time, UP President Murray Bartlett declared that as a "University for the Filipino," the institution must be "supported by the people's money," guided by a charter framed by the people's representatives, and sustained by "the confidence and sympathy of the people."

Autonomous units

At present, the University of the Philippines is composed of nine constituent universities (CU) located in 15 campuses around the country. UP Diliman houses the system-wide administrative headquarters. Each constituent university of UP is headed by a chancellor, who is elected on a three-year term by the Board of Regents. Unlike the president, who is elected on a single six-year term without re-election, the chancellor may be re-elected for another three-year term but it is upon the discretion of the members of the Board of Regents.

Satellite campuses

The satellite campuses do not have autonomous status. They are considered extension colleges of their parent unit. Some campuses host different programs from various colleges within the parent unit.

UP Diliman

• UPD Bonifacio Global City Professional Schools (Taguig City)
• UPD Extension Program in Olongapo (Olongapo City)
• UPD Extension Program in Pampanga (Clark Freeport Zone, Mabalacat, Pampanga)

UP Dasmarinas Technology Innovation Campus (Dasmariñas, Cavite), groundbreaking.

UP Los Baños

UPLB Professional School for Agriculture and the Environment (Panabo City, Davao del Norte)

UP Manila

• UPM School of Health Sciences in Baler (Baler, Aurora)
• UPM School of Health Sciences in Koronadal (Koronadal City, South Cotabato)
• UPM School of Health Sciences in Palo (Palo, Leyte)
• UPM School of Health Sciences in Tarlac (Tarlac City, Tarlac)

UP Cebu

UPC Professional Schools (Cebu City)

UP Visayas

UPV Iloilo City Campus (Iloilo City)

UPV Antique Extension (Pandan, Antique)

UP Open University

Seven (7) learning centers across the country

Basic education

• University of the Philippines High School Cebu in UP Cebu
• University of the Philippines High School Iloilo in UP Visayas
• University of the Philippines Integrated School in UP Diliman
• University of the Philippines Rural High School in UP Los Baños

Organization

Presidents of the University of the Philippines

The President of the University of the Philippines is elected for a single six-year term by the university's eleven-member Board of Regents. As of 2023, two Americans and 20 Filipinos served as Presidents of the University of the Philippines.

The current president of UP is lawyer and former regent Angelo Jimenez. He assumed office on February 10, 2023.

Board of Regents

The governance of the university is vested in the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines System (or Lupon ng mga Rehente in Filipino) and is commonly abbreviated as BoR. The board, with its 11 members, is the highest decision-making body in the UP system.

The Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) serves as the Board's Chairperson while the President of the University of the Philippines is the co-chairperson. The Chairpersons of the Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education of the Senate and the Committee on Higher and Technical Education House of Representatives are members of the Board of Regents which are concurrent with their functions as committee chairpersons.

UP students, represented by the General Assembly of Student Councils, nominate a Student Regent. While the Faculty Regent is likewise nominated by the faculty members of the whole University. Alumni are represented by the President of the UP Alumni Association. A Staff Regent, representing professional and administrative personnel, was included with the passage of the new UP Charter in 2008. The remaining members of the Board of Regents are nominated into the position by the President of the Philippines.

As of 2025, the members of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines System are:

The secretary of the university and of the Board of Regents is Atty. Roberto M.J. Lara.

Academics

The University of the Philippines System offers 246 undergraduate degree programs and 362 graduate degree programs, more than any other university in the country.

The campus in Diliman offers the largest number of degree programs, and other campuses are known to lead and specialize in specific programs. The university has 57 degree-granting units throughout the system, which may be a college, school or institute that offers an undergraduate or a graduate program. In the Los Baños campus, a separate Graduate School administers the graduate programs in agriculture, forestry, the basic sciences, mathematics and statistics, development economics and management, agrarian studies and human ecology. The College of Public Health at the Manila campus has a collaboration with Boston University School of Public Health. This program allows students from Boston University to do a semester of coursework at UP Manila as well as an international field practicum in the Philippines. The university has 4,571 faculty, trained locally and abroad with 36% having graduate degrees. The university is one of the three universities in the Philippines affiliated with the ASEAN University Network, and the only Philippine university to be affiliated with the ASEAN-European University Network and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

Budget

The university has the highest financial endowment of all educational institutions in the Philippines. In 2008, the entire UP System received a financial subsidy from the national government of ₱ 5.7 billion. The total expenditure for the same year, however, is ₱ 7.2 billion, or approximately ₱ 135,000 per student. State universities and colleges have continually experienced budget cuts over the years. In 2019, the university requested a ₱44.9 billion budget but only received ₱15.5 billion for its budget, with an additional ₱1.5 billion for operational and equipment expenses. The Philippine General Hospital, the most affected unit of the UP System, received an insufficient budget of P2.92 billion, with only P155 million out of the requested P1.6 billion allocated for infrastructure and capital outlays.

The UP System will receive the largest proposed allocation among state universities under the 2026 National Expenditure Program, with ₱25.82 billion dedicated mainly to personnel and operational expenses and infrastructure upgrades. Other state universities such as PUP, CLSU, Benguet State University, and Central Mindanao University also get significant funding.

Admissions and financial aid

Undergraduate admissions

As a public state university, "selection is based on intellectual and personal preparedness of the applicant irrespective of sex, religious belief and political affiliation." Admission into the university's undergraduate programs is the most competitive admissions in the country; as of 2026, 147,437 students took the exam in August 2025, with about 18,350 being accepted—an admission rate of about 12.45%. Admission to a program is usually based on the result of the University of the Philippines College Admissions Test (UPCAT), University Predicted Grade (UPG)—60% from the UPCAT and 40% from High School grades (weighted in accordance to school's rigor) to an average of grades obtained and sometimes, a quota set by the unit offering the program. The university also maintains a Policy of Democratization which aims to "make the UP studentry more representative of the nation's population."

The UPCAT also allows students to enter INTegrated Liberal Arts and MEDicine (INTARMED), the university's accelerated 7-year medicine curriculum, one of the two entry points into the program. Transferring to the university from other constituent units or schools outside the system are determined by the degree-granting unit that offers the program or the course, not by the university's Office of Admissions.

The university's admissions test especially for undergraduate education is considered among, if not the most competitive admission test in the Philippines. Attracting top talents from local, regional, and national public, private, and science high schools of the Philippines.

Former Socialized Tuition System and Current Free Tuition Law

The Socialized Tuition System (also referred to as the "Iskolar ng Bayan" Program) (STS) was implemented in response to the increase in tuition in 2014. The program, proposed in 1988 by UP President Jose Abueva and mandated by the President and Congress of the Philippines, called for a radical departure from the old fee and scholarship structure of UP, resulting in tremendous benefits for low-income and disadvantaged Filipino students. The Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) is divided into four basic components: Subsidized Education, Socialized Tuition, Scholarships, and Student Assistantships. In the 1989 STFAP, income groups are divided into nine brackets, with one having the full benefits. In December 2006, the Board of Regents approved a restructured STFAP, along with the increase in tuition and other fees that will apply for incoming freshmen.

The Revised STFAP reduces the brackets from nine to five, and will supposedly increase the number of students receiving tuition subsidy and increase stipend rates and coverage. However, critics of the restructured STFAP argue that the data used in the formulation of the revised program is not an acceptable prediction of a student's family income, that some of the bracket assignments are flawed and that the program fails to address or revise student assistantship programs.

In popular culture

The University of the Philippines is famed for campus activism, serving as the critical thinking and democratic voice of the country. During the Marcos dictatorship, the university became the hotspot for protest against the encroaching consolidation of presidential powers as seen in the Diliman Commune. While in Rodrigo Duterte's War on Drugs and subsequent disregard for human rights pushed the university to be a leading voice in proper action. In the modern era, certain albeit incredibly infrequent cases of UP student deaths are related to indirect or direct involvement with the New People's Army and its recruitment.

In terms of admissions, by far the most popular and competitive admission test in the country is the UPCAT having upwards of 120,000 takers a year. Beforehand, thousand upon thousands of students prepare through various review centers in the country for the admissions test.

Students dominate Professional Regulation Commission licensure examinations for medicine, engineering, agriculture, and the rest of the sciences. In addition, association with public service and executive positions in government are frequent for UP alums in accordance to the mandate of the institution. UP is the country's leading university in the world university rankings.

Notable alumni

The University of the Philippines has numerous notable alumni and faculty. UP graduated many leading figures in the country.

In the country's political history, UP has produced former Philippine presidents such as José P. Laurel, Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand Marcos, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; former senators Lorenzo Tañada, Jovito Salonga, Ninoy Aquino, Francis Pangilinan, and Richard J. Gordon; the 14th Vice President Leni Robredo; statesmen Arturo Tolentino, Gerardo Roxas, and Doy Laurel; prominent jurists such as former chief justices Hilario Davide and Maria Lourdes Sereno; and incumbent Congressman Roman Romulo.

In business, UP graduated billionaire and Araneta patriarch Jorge L. Araneta. Antonio Quirino, the founder of the first television station in the Philippines: Alto Broadcasting System (now known as ABS-CBN Corporation), is also a graduate, as is Marla Rausch, the founder and CEO of Animation Vertigo, a motion-capture animation company. UP also produced the first Filipina Nobel Peace Prize laureate with Maria Ressa winning the award in 2021.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)