Ateneo de Manila University

Programmes

The Ateneo offers programmes at the elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Its academic offerings include the arts, humanities, business, law, the social sciences, philosophy, theology, medicine and public health, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, environmental science, and government, with forty-eight Bachelor of Arts (AB), Bachelor of Science (BS), and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degrees at the undergraduate level. At the postgraduate level there are forty-four Master of Arts (MA) and Master of Science (MS) degrees, six Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes, two Master of Laws concentrations, one Master of Public Management (MPM) degree, two professional Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Juris Doctor (JD) programmes, and twelve Doctor of Philosophy degrees. As is common in the Philippines, the primary medium of instruction is English, with a few classes taught in Filipino. Aside from teaching and research, the Ateneo de Manila also engages in social outreach. Known for its liberal arts tradition, the humanities are a key feature of Ateneo education at all levels of study. In 2015, QS Top Universities placed the university's undergraduate programmes 461st in the world and 114th in Asia.

Professional Schools

The Ateneo Professional Schools (APS) is the main professional education division of Ateneo de Manila, and comprises the following four schools. The Ateneo Graduate School of Business offers a variety of Master of Business Administration concentrations, including a Master in Health Servicess Administration. The Ateneo Law School confers the Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees. The Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, opened in 2007, offers an integrated Doctor of Medicine and Master of Business Administration programme. The Ateneo School of Government confers the Master in Public Management and Ph.D. in Leadership Studies degrees. The professional schools also confer certificates for short courses.

Loyola Schools

Loyola Schools offers undergraduate and graduate degree programmes in the arts and sciences. It confers the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Arts, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. It is composed of four schools, the School of Humanities, the John Gokongwei School of Management, the School of Science and Engineering, and the School of Social Sciences.

A key feature of the Loyola Schools is a liberal arts undergraduate core curriculum, required for all undergraduates. It includes philosophy, English and Filipino literature, theology, history, various branches of social sciences, and a community service component. Ateneo follows the semester hour system common in American universities. Most classes are held below 40 students and student discussion is encouraged. The Loyola Schools' programmes are geared toward student-centreedness. The Ateneo was one of the first schools in the Philippines to enact a Magna Carta for Undergraduates.

The Commission on Higher Education has designated several departments and programmes of the Loyola Schools as centres of excellence (COEs) and Centers of Development (CODs). Ateneo has Centers of Excellence in: Business Administration, Chemistry, English, Entrepreneurship, Information Technology, Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology and Sociology. It has Centers of Development in Biology, Environmental Science and Filipino.

Basic Education

The Ateneo de Manila High School is a Catholic preparatory school for male students. The campus has two libraries, the Instructional Technology Center, the Tanghalang Onofre Pagsanghan ([Dulaang Sibol]), and a large athletics complex with one of the largest school-based covered courts facilities in the country. In 2003 the high school opened a Center for Math, Science and Technology (commonly known as "MST") containing science and computer labs, classrooms for the special math and science classes (Honors Math and Science, Sections X and S), and a faculty room.

The high school's religious formation programme includes a Christian Service and Involvement Program (CSIP) with the Dungaw-Exposure Trip for freshmen, a Damá-Christian Service Program for sophomores, the Damay Immersion and GK Programs for juniors, and Tulong Dunong programme for seniors. besides recollections and retreats. It originated Days with the Lord.

The Ateneo de Manila Junior High School ("AJHS") was established to comply with the country's K-12 education system, In 2015 the current Officer-in-Charge (OIC) for the AJHS was Mrs. Carmela C. Oracion.

The Ateneo de Manila Grade School is an elementary school for boys with a population of around 4000 students before 2014, when it dropped the prep level and kept grades first through sixth, while contemplating adding kindergarten. The Ateneo Grade School is one of the first elementary schools in the Philippines to adopt the Singapore Maths curriculum.

Loyola School of Theology (federated)

The Loyola School of Theology is a Jesuit school of theology and pastoral studies, run separately from but federated with Ateneo de Manila University. It offers baccalaureate, licentiate, and doctoral ecclesiastical degrees in theology, as well as postgraduate degrees in theological studies, theology, and pastoral ministry from Ateneo de Manila University. It also supports the theology and religious education postgraduate programmes of Ateneo Loyola Schools' Department of Theology.

Research

Some of Ateneo de Manila's most active research hubs work in the fields of disaster risk, prevention and management; public education; migration; and governance. The university houses several research centres, and has many links with industry partners, government agencies and research networks. Some research centres, called auxiliary units, are established by the university board of trustees, others are organized by individual schools or departments.

Journals

Ateneo publishes the following scholarly journals: Kritika Kultura, Asian Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities, Budhi, Philipine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, The Journal of Management for Global Sustainability, Landas, and Social Transformations: Journal of the Global South.

Campuses

Currently, the main campus of the Ateneo is an 83-hectare (210-acre) property in Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Metro Manila. This campus is home to the university's college and graduate school units, as well as its high school and grade school and junior high. Two other campuses, in Rockwell Center and Salcedo Village, both in Makati, house the university's professional schools of business, law, and government. A fourth facility in the Don Eugenio López Sr. Medical Complex in Ortigas Center, Pasig, houses its school of medicine and public health.

Loyola Heights

Overlooking the Marikina Valley, the 83-hectare main campus is located in Loyola Heights, along the eastern side of Katipunan Avenue, and is south of and adjacent to the campus of Miriam College. The Grade School, High School, and Loyola Schools are located in the Ateneo's Loyola Heights campus. Beside the Grade School is the Henry Lee Irwin Theater, built in 1995 to house the school's formal events and productions. Complementing the old buildings of the Loyola Schools are the Science Education Complex, as well as the PLDT Convergent Technologies Center-John Gokongwei School of Management Complex.

Within this campus is the Rizal Library, the main university library. Also located here are numerous units and research centres affiliated with the Ateneo, such as the Institute of Social Order, Institute of Philippine Culture, Institute on Church and Social Issues, Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowships, the Philippine Institute for Pure and Applied Chemistry, the Jesuit Communications Foundation, the Jesuit Basic Education Commission, and others. Also situated here are the East Asian Pastoral Institute, Loyola School of Theology, and San Jose Seminary, all Jesuit formation institutions federated with the Ateneo de Manila University. The Manila Observatory is also located on campus. Athletic facilities include the Blue Eagle Gym, also known as the Loyola Center, standing at the southern end of the campus, and the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center (MLSC) on the northern end. The Blue Eagle Gym is one of the largest gymnasiums among the universities in Metro Manila while the MLSC is often used by the Philippine National Basketball Team as well as other professional teams for their training needs.

The Church of the Gesù, completed in July 2002, stands on top of Sacred Heart Hill and overlooks the rest of the campus. The school's chapels include the St. Stanislaus Kostka Chapel and the Chapel of the First Companions in the high school, the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in the college complex's Gonzaga Hall, the chapel at the Loyola House of Studies, and the Chapel of the Holy Guardian Angels in the grade school, among others. Not a part of the university but located on its campus is San Jose Major Seminary also has a chapel. Moreover, within walking distance of the campus are two parish churches: Our Lady of Pentecost and Santa María della Strada which includes the university in its territory.

While the majority of its students live in Metro Manila, the university has three on-campus dormitories for college students: Cervini Hall, Eliazo Hall, and the University Dormitory. Located near the Loyola Schools, Cervini accommodates approximately two hundred male students, while Eliazo houses one hundred and sixty female students. The University Dormitory, completed in 2008, houses six hundred students. Other dormitories which are also open to college and graduate school students are those of the [Institute of Social Order], Arrupe International Residence, and the East Asian Pastoral Institute. Those who desire to live off-campus reside in nearby accredited dormitories and condominiums such as Oracle Residences, FBR Building, Xanland Plaza, One Burgundy Plaza, Prince David Condominium, and Berkeley Residences, sharing study and living areas with students from the University of the Philippines, Diliman and Miriam College.

The Ateneo de Manila is also home to the largest Jesuit community in the Philippines, most of whom reside at the Jesuit Residence in the Loyola Heights campus. These Jesuits are involved in teaching, administration, and research within the university and its affiliated units.

Recently, the majority of the units in the Loyola Schools Campus have been participating in the environmental initiatives started at the student organization and administrative levels. These have been grouped under the banner of the Ateneo Environmental Management Coalition, resulting in major changes in student lifestyle and resource management all over campus.

Rockwell Centre

The Rockwell Centre campus of the Ateneo de Manila University houses the Law School, Graduate School of Business, School of Government, AGSB-BAP Institute of Banking, and the Ateneo Centre for Continuing Education. The campus was donated by the Lopez Group of Companies to the Ateneo de Manila University. It includes several research centres, a moot court facility, and the Ateneo Professional Schools Library.

Salcedo Village

The Salcedo Village campus houses the different facilities of the former Ateneo Information Technology Institute (AITI) and the Ateneo Center for Continuing Education (CCE). This facility formerly housed the Professional Schools prior to the completion of the Rockwell campus in 1998.

Ortigas Center

The Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health at the Don Eugenio López Sr. Medical Complex in Ortigas Center, Pasig, opened its doors to its pioneering batch of students in June 2007. Beside the ASMPH is its partner hospital, The Medical City.

Library system

The Ateneo library system comprises several libraries housed in the Loyola Heights campus and the Professional Schools campus. The university's main library is the Rizal Library located in Loyola Heights. The Ateneo Professional Schools Library is housed in the Professional Schools building. Also included in the library system are the libraries of the Ateneo grade school, high school, and those of the East Asian Pastoral Institute and the Loyola School of Theology. Libraries of other Jesuit universities in Naga, Zamboanga, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro are linked to the Ateneo de Manila Libraries.

In 2007, the Rizal Library's resources were estimated at more than 500,000 items. It housed rare Filipiniana items including a permanent exhibit of Rizal memorabilia, the Trinidad Pardo de Tavera collection, the American Historical Collection, the Ateneo Library of Women's Writings (ALIWW), and other special collections and manuscripts by Filipino scholars, writers, and artists. A new five-storey Rizal Library building was completed in 2009 and opened in November of the same year, housing the library's circulation section, the undergraduate and graduate reserve sections, the multimedia collection, the periodicals collection, the Japanese collection, online database access terminals, an information commons, and the Library's technical services facilities. The former Rizal Library building will now be known as the Rizal Library Special Collection, and houses the Microform Reading Center, Art Book Collection, Filipiniana Section, American Historical Collection, the Ateneo Library of Women's Writings, the Pardo de Tavera Collection, and the Theses and Dissertations collection.

The Professional Schools Library holds one of the largest collections of materials in the fields of law, business, and government in the Philippines.

Ateneo Art Gallery

The Ateneo Art Gallery is housed in the Rizal Library's Special Collections Building. The gallery is the first museum of modern art in the Philippines, and is the only museum in the country dedicated to the collection, display, and interpretation of Philippine modern art. The heart of its collection is a large selection of post-war art donated to the university by Fernando Zóbel de Ayala.

University Archives

The University Archives are housed in the Rizal Library annex building. Since 1958 it has served as the central repository of non-current records of the administrative offices, academic departments, and student organizations. Among its collections are papers and documents from key university people, relics and personal effects of alumni, some archived publications, theses, and dissertations, as well as other materials such as maps, photographs, and art work.

Administration & accreditation

The Ateneo de Manila is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by alumnus Edward Go, who succeeded Manuel V. Pangilinan. A central administration, led by University President Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, S.J., oversees key initiatives related to academics, international programmes, university development and alumni relations, personnel, security, and other university-wide concerns. Fr. Villarin succeeded Fr. Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J., on 1 June 2011.
Individual units and departments are usually led by a vice president, with the exception of the basic education units which are led by a director who oversees the leadership of both the high school's principal and the grade school's headmaster. The Loyola schools and professional schools are led by their respective vice presidents who oversee school deans, who in turn oversee department chairs and programme directors.

In 2005, the Loyola Schools programmes of the Ateneo have been granted Level IV accreditation—the highest possible level—from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP) and the Philippine Accrediting Asociation of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). In 2011 it was also granted Institutional Accreditation by the same body, the first time that both citations were awarded to a university simultaneously. Ateneo de Manila is one of few universities granted autonomous status by CHED, which likewise recognizes a number of the university's programmes and departments as Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development.
The grade school and high school divisions both have the highest (level III) of accreditation from PAASCU and FAAP.

Student organisations

Among the fifty-two university-accredited student organisations, the Ateneo College Glee Club is the most internationally renowned. The oldest university chorale in the Philippines, ACGC has participated in numerous international choral and choir competitions including the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing.

The Ateneo Debate Society, the premier undergraduate debate organization of the Ateneo, is the highest-ranking debate team in the Philippines and Asia, and often in the top 10 of the World University Debate Rankings since the mid-2000s, peaking at no. 7 in 2012. It is currently in 13th place.

Notable people

The Ateneo has produced four Presidents of the Philippines and its alumni have been influential in national politics and in the business sector.