Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has released its QS Best Student Cities 2025 rankings, listing the city of Manila as the 103rd student-friendly city in the world out of 150 cities.
As the sole city in the Philippines on the list, Manila had an overall score of 59.4. It was a notable increase from its 55.7 score in the previous year, which placed it at the 115th spot out of 160 countries.
Manila also ranked fourth among the ten cities from Southeast Asia that had secured a spot on the list, surpassing Subang Jaya, Malaysia (109th). Singapore maintained its top spot among Southeast Asian countries with an overall rank of 15, which was followed by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (23rd), and Bangkok, Thailand (59th).
The rankings are based on the city’s university rankings, student feedback, affordability, employment opportunities, and diversity. To qualify, a city must have a population of more than 250,000, have two universities featured in the latest QS World University Rankings, and be marked as insignificant to medium by the International SOS index
The University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle University are the only schools in Manila that secured a spot in the QS World Rankings.
