University of San Carlos

The University of San Carlos (USC or colloquially San Carlos) is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word missionaries in Cebu City, Philippines since 1935. It offers basic education (Montessori academy, grade school, junior high school and senior high school) and higher education (undergraduate and graduate studies). Founded originally in 1595 as Colegio de San Ildefonso, it later became the Colegio-Seminario de San Carlos in 1783 and finally obtained university charter in 1948. USC has 5 campuses with combined land area of 88 hectares or 217 acres (Talamban campus has 78 hectares). The Commission on Higher Education has recognized 8 of its programs as Centers of Excellence and 12 of its programs as Centers of Development as of March, 2016. USC debuts the QS Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking of 2024 and ranked within 1,201-1,400, the university was previously ranked by QS Asia in 2021 within 451-500. The Scimago institution ranking for research and innovation ranked USC as 4th (2022) among universities in the Philippines. The Institute for Research, Innovation and Scholarship (IRIS) ranking of Philippine universities research productivity in science, engineering and health ranked USC as 8th in science, 9th in engineering and 7th in health (2021-2022). The university is certified with the International Standards Organization 9001:2015 Quality Management System for Institutional and Student Support Services as of April 2022 by the British Standards Institution (BSI) International.