Philippines: Second Oldest University in Philippines
Written byPreetam Rai
Senor Enrique in Philippines looks at one of the oldest universities in Asia – the University of Santo Tomas that first opened in 1611 and started granting degrees in 1624.
Written byPreetam Rai
4 comments
what about the university of san carlos in cebu? it was founded in 1595…
Yes. it was opened in 1595 but closed in 1596. It was not accredited then by the Ministry of Education.
The University of San Carlos may have been established before the University of Santo Tomas however the latter was first to have received university charter in 1645. San Carlos only became a university in 1948, therefore Santo Tomas is the oldest existing university in the Philippines and in Asia with an undisrupted existence except for the two world wars.
“what about the university of san carlos in cebu? it was founded in 1595…”
This is inaccurate; San Carlos University doesn’t have an unbroken and natural link to the 1595 Jesuit Colegio de San Ildefonso that it claims to be its forerunner. USC was officially established in 1783 by Bishop Mateo Joaquin de Arevalo as Colegio-Seminario de San Carlos. It was not a continuation or re-opening and renaming of the defunct 1595 Colegio de San Ildefonso that closed down in 1769 when the Jesuits got expelled from the Philippines.