Ateneo de Manila University facts for kids

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Ateneo de Manila University

Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila  (Filipino)
University seal
Latin: Ūniversitās Athēnaea Manīlēnsis
Former names	Escuela Municipal de Manila (1859–1865) Ateneo Municipal de Manila (1865–1909) Ateneo de Manila (1909–1959)
Motto	Lux in Domino
Motto in English	Light in the Lord
Type	Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution
Established	December 10, 1859 (165 years and 235 days)
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic (Jesuits)
Academic affiliations	ACUCA AJCU-AP AUN PAASCU IAJU JBEC
Chairman	Bernadine T. Siy
President	Fr. Roberto C. Yap, SJ
Academic staff	approx. 2,470
Administrative staff	3,015
Students	15,269 (university level)
Undergraduates	8,614
Postgraduates	6,655
Other students	approx. 6,500 (grade school and high school)
Location	Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines – Grade School – Junior High School – Senior High School – College – School of Government Salcedo Village, Makati, Philippines Rockwell Center, Makati, Philippines – School of Law – Graduate School of Business Ortigas Center, Pasig, Philippines – School of Medicine and Public Health 14°38′20″N 121°4′40″E / 14.63889°N 121.07778°E / 14.63889; 121.07778
Campus	Urban (main campus) 83 hectares (210 acres)
Newspaper	The Guidon
Colors	Blue and white
Nickname	Blue Eagles
Sporting affiliations	UAAP PVL PFFWL
Mascot	Blue Eagle
Location in Metro Manila Show map of Metro Manila Location in Luzon Show map of Luzon Location in Philippines Show map of Philippines

The Ateneo de Manila University is a private, Catholic university in Quezon City, Philippines. It is often called Ateneo de Manila or simply Ateneo. The Jesuits started this university in 1859. It is one of the oldest Jesuit schools in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ateneo de Manila is known as one of the best universities in the Philippines. It offers education from primary school all the way to university degrees. Students can study subjects like humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and business. The university also has special schools for law, business, government, and medicine. Ateneo follows a Jesuit tradition that focuses on a broad education, especially in the humanities.

Ateneo's Journey Through Time

How Ateneo Began

The Jesuits first opened a seminary called Colegio de San Jose in 1605. Later, in 1768, the King of Spain ordered the Jesuits to leave the Philippines. The college was then managed by the Dominicans.

The Jesuits returned to the Philippines in the 1800s. In 1859, they were asked to run a small public school in Manila called Escuela Municipal. They changed its name to Ateneo Municipal in 1865.

Moving Campuses

The school was first located in Intramuros. In 1902, it became a private school and was renamed Ateneo de Manila. It moved to Padre Faura Street after its original campus burned down in 1932. However, this new campus was also destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945.

After World War II, the university moved to its current campus in Loyola Heights, Quezon City, in 1952. The old Ermita site was later sold.

Key Moments and Changes

In 1959, Fr. Pacífico Ortíz, SJ, became the first Filipino president of the university. During his time, the Graduate School was split into two parts. In 1968, Ateneo helped start the Asian Institute of Management. Women were first allowed to study at the college in 1973.

In the 1970s, Ateneo students actively protested against the Marcos dictatorship. Many students later joined the 1986 People Power Revolution.

In 1991, the Ateneo Law School was the first in the country to offer the Juris Doctor degree. The School of Government started in 1996. A new campus for business, law, and government schools opened in Rockwell Center in 1998.

The university continued to grow and innovate. In 2002, it launched a program called Pathways to Higher Education. The Church of the Gesù was also completed on the Loyola Heights campus in July 2002.

In 2003, Ateneo officially partnered with Gawad Kalinga for social action projects. The Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership opened in 2006. The Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health began in 2007.

Recently, in July 2022, an event led to the cancellation of the law school's graduation ceremonies. In October 2022, the university combined its higher education units.

Ateneo's Campuses

Ateneo de Manila's main campus is in Loyola Heights, Quezon City. It covers about 83 hectares (205 acres). This campus has the university's primary, secondary, and college levels. It also has many research centers.

Loyola Heights Campus

Aerial view of the Loyola Heights campus, looking northeast.

The Loyola Heights campus is next to Miriam College. It includes the grade school, high school, and college. You can find facilities like the Henry Lee Irwin Theater and the Science Education Complex here. In 2018, the university opened the Areté, a creative hub with the Ateneo Art Gallery and theaters.

The Rizal Library and several research centers are also on this campus. These include the Institute of Philippine Culture and the Manila Observatory. For sports, there is the Blue Eagle Gym and the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center.

The campus also has the Church of the Gesù and other chapels. It is home to the largest Jesuit community in the Philippines.

• College Complex
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  The Science Education Complex

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  The Horacio dela Costa Hall

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  The Ricardo & Dr. Rosita Leong Hall

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  The John Gokongwei School of Management Building

Other Campuses

Ateneo has other campuses too. The Rockwell Center in Makati houses the School of Law and the Graduate School of Business. The Salcedo Village campus has other facilities, including the Ateneo Center for Continuing Education. The Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health is in Ortigas Center, Pasig, next to its partner hospital, The Medical City.

Ateneo Blue Cloud

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ateneo created the Ateneo Blue Cloud. This is a virtual campus that offers online, blended, and in-person learning materials.

How Ateneo is Organized

The university is managed by a board of trustees. Bernadine T. Siy is the current chairman. The university president, Fr. Roberto C. Yap SJ, leads the main administration. There are also vice-presidents for different areas like social development and finance.

The Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has given Ateneo de Manila "autonomous status" since 2001. This means the university has more freedom to create new programs. Only a few universities in the country have this status.

Ateneo is divided into twelve schools. These include both higher education and basic education units. Each unit is managed by a vice-president.

Higher Education Schools

Ateneo's higher education has nine schools. These are the School of Humanities, the John Gokongwei School of Management, the School of Science and Engineering, and the School of Social Sciences. Other schools include the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design, the Graduate School of Business, the Ateneo School of Law, the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, and the Ateneo School of Government.

Basic Education Schools

The Chapel of the Holy Guardian Angels and a statue of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at the Ateneo de Manila Grade School

The Ateneo de Manila Grade School (AGS) offers elementary education. It was the university's first unit. The school started admitting girls in the 2024–25 school year. AGS was one of the first schools in the Philippines to use the Singapore math curriculum. On August 1, 2024, 200 girls joined the Grade School, marking a historic moment.

The Ateneo de Manila Junior High School (AJHS) provides middle school education. It was created in 2013 to follow the Department of Education K-12 system.

The Ateneo de Manila Senior High School (ASHS) offers the eleventh and twelfth grades since 2013. It became co-educational in 2016.

ASHS offers four academic tracks for the K-12 program. These are Accountancy and Business Management (ABM), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), Science and Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and the General Academic strand (GA).

In May 2024, Roberto Yap appointed Rosanna “Sansan” M. Borja as Senior High School Principal. On August 2, 2024, Ateneo welcomed female students in Grade 7. The university announced that by the 2029–2030 school year, all basic education levels (kindergarten to grade 12) will be fully co-educational.

Loyola School of Theology

The Loyola School of Theology is connected to the university. It offers degrees in theology and pastoral ministry.

What Students Study at Ateneo

Schools and Programs

Ateneo de Manila University offers education from primary to graduate levels. It has 48 undergraduate, 93 graduate, and 11 professional degree programs. Students can also pursue dual and joint degrees, sometimes with international universities.

Most classes are taught in English, but some are in Filipino.

Ateneo emphasizes a liberal arts curriculum for college students. This includes philosophy, literature, theology, history, and social sciences. This curriculum helps students learn actively and get involved in the community.

Ateneo's Reputation and Rankings

Ateneo is ranked as a top university in the Philippines by Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings. It was the top private university and second overall in the Philippines in both QS's World and Asia rankings.

As of 2025, Ateneo is ranked fourth in the Philippines by Webometrics Ranking of World Universities and third by EduRank.

The university has 11 Centers of Excellence (CoE) and 6 Centers of Development (CoD). These are special recognitions from CHED for strong academic programs.

Ateneo's academic programs are highly accredited by CHED and the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU).

Top Graduate Programs

The Legal Education Board has ranked the Ateneo de Manila School of Law as a top law school. It has a high passing rate for first-time examinees in the Philippine Bar Examinations. The school has also produced many top scorers in the Bar Examinations.

The Professional Regulation Commission named the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health as the best-performing medical school in the Philippines in 2019. It had a 100% passing rate in the Physician Licensure Examination.

The Ateneo School of Government is ranked as one of the top public policy schools. It is the only Philippine institution listed in the Asia-Pacific region's public-policy school rankings.

Eduniversal ranked the Ateneo Graduate School of Business as one of the top business schools in the country in 2021.

Research and Support Centers

Ateneo has many research centers. They focus on topics like disaster risk reduction, public education, and how people move from one place to another. These include the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development and the Manila Observatory.

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  The Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry

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  The Eugenio Lopez Jr. Center for Multimedia Communication

Making a Difference: Social and Global Efforts

The Ateneo campus in 2022

Ateneo de Manila University encourages students to get involved in social projects. Programs like the Ateneo-Mangyan Project and Bigay Puso help students learn about social responsibility. Students also participate in housebuilding with Gawad Kalinga.

The university's main social action program is its partnership with Gawad Kalinga. They work together on community-building and helping areas recover from disasters.

The Ugat Foundation, which supports families, is also based at Ateneo de Manila University.

Working with Other Countries

Ateneo de Manila University works with many international schools. These partnerships allow students and teachers to participate in exchange programs. For example, Ateneo partners with Sun Yat-sen University to run the Confucius Institute. This institute offers Mandarin language courses.

Ateneo also has joint master's programs with Queen Mary University of London and other universities. These include Le Cordon Bleu, École supérieure des sciences commerciales d'Angers, Kyushu University, Regis University, and the University of Sydney.

The university's Asian Peacebuilders Scholarship helps students learn about peacebuilding. This program is in partnership with the Nippon Foundation and the University for Peace.

Libraries and Art at Ateneo

The New Rizal Library of the Ateneo de Manila University, opened in 2009

The American Historical Collection at the Old Rizal Library

The biggest library at Ateneo de Manila University is the Rizal Library. It has an Old and a New Rizal Library. The New Rizal Library opened in November 2009. It has many books, study areas, and services for students.

Ateneo Art Gallery

The Ateneo Art Gallery opened in 1960. It was the first museum in the Philippines to focus on modern art. It is located in the Areté building and displays a collection of modern and contemporary Filipino art.

University Archives

The University Archives are in Faber Hall. They keep historical records and documents of Ateneo de Manila University. These archives help people research the university's past.

Life as an Ateneo Student

Where Students Live

Ateneo de Manila University offers on-campus housing. There are several residence halls like Cervini Hall and Eliazo Hall. These dorms provide places for both undergraduate and graduate students to live.

Student Groups and Clubs

The Ateneo Debate Society is one of the top debate teams in Asia. They have won the 2023 World Universities Debating Championship.

The Ateneo College Glee Club (ACGC) is the oldest university choir in the Philippines. They are known internationally for their performances.

Dulaang Sibol, started in 1955, is the oldest high school theater group in the Philippines.

Tanghalang Ateneo is the oldest theater group for college students.

Famous People Who Studied at Ateneo

More to Explore

• De La Salle University – Ateneo de Manila University's main college rival
  • Ateneo–La Salle rivalry
• Ignatius of Loyola
• List of colleges and universities in Metro Manila
• List of Jesuit educational institutions in the Philippines
• List of Jesuit sites
• Society of Jesus

See also

In Spanish: Universidad Ateneo de Manila para niños