San Carlos superior to Silliman and St. La Salle: The best universities in the Visayas

It seems like a battle of the S’s in the Visayas and Cebu seems to be the queen even in education. In a recent study by this author of universities in Central Philippines, the University of San Carlos scored the highest rating among 18 of the best from regions 6 to 8.

The review looked at the number of Center of Excellence (COE) designations and their passing rates in two of the most recent licensure exams of accountants, physicians, nurses, elementary and secondary teachers, and civil engineers. Each university was given 2 points for every COE and 1 point for every Center of Development (COD) designation. The universities are ranked into the top 4 in the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) licensure exams. The first-ranked university gets 4 points. The second in ranking receives 3 points while the third- and fourth-ranked schools earn 2 and 1 points respectively. The points were then tallied to identify the top universities in the Visayas.

The top 5 include 3 universities from Negros and 1 each from Cebu and Iloilo. Cebu Normal University barely made it to the list. Although it is a COD in teacher education, it did not rank in the PRC education licensure exams. UP Visayas also did not make it to the list.

# 1 UNIVERSITY OF SAN CARLOS – Cebu (21 points)
Founded by the Jesuits in 1595, San Carlos earns its 21 points by having COEs in chemistry and teacher education, and 9 CODs including ones in civil engineering, mechanical engineering and business administration. Becoming a university in 1948, it also ranks second in civil engineering (60.71%) and secondary education (73.29%) in the Visayas.

# 2 SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY – Dumaguete (17 points)

Conceptualized as an industrial school by American Dr. Horace B. Silliman, this university garnered 17 points in the study. Located in scenic Dumaguete, it has been recognized as a COE in nursing and teacher education and as a COD in information technology and accountancy education. Silliman University shares a 100% passing rate in the physician licensure exams (7/7) with the Cebu Institute of Medicine (57/57). In addition, it scores high in the certified public accountant (CPA) board exams at 78.13%, second in the Visayas.

# 3 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY – La Paz, Iloilo City (12 points)
Established in 1924, this university ranks third because it places second in the licensure exams of physicians (96%), nurses (99.41%) and elementary teachers (67.41%) in the Visayas. Acknowledging its roots in the Iloilo Normal School, it has been recognized as a COE in teacher education.

#4 UNIVERSITY OF ST. LA SALLE – Bacolod (11 points)
Founded as La Salle Bacolod, this school ranks third in the CPA, physician, elementary education and secondary education licensure exams. Its accountancy, chemical and computer engineering programs have also been designated as CODs.

#5 NEGROS ORIENTAL STATE UNIVERSITY – Dumaguete (8 points)
Although this state university has neither COE nor COD, it tops the civil engineering licensure exams in the Visayas at 73.33%. Together with St. Paul University in Iloilo, it has the distinction of a perfect passing rate in the nursing board exams with all of its 21 graduates succeeding.