University of Santo Tomas

Pontifical and Royal
University of Santo Tomas
The Catholic University of the Philippines

Pamantasan ng Santo Tomás Unibersidad ng Santo Tomás Universidad de Santo Tomás
Latin:
Former names	Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario, Colegio de Santo Tomás de Manila
Motto	Veritas in Caritate
Motto in English	Truth in Charity
Type	Private, Research university
Established	28 April 1611 (7010128074376430000♠405 years and 310 days)
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic (Dominican)
Chancellor	Bruno Cadoré, O.P.
Vice-Chancellor	Napoleon Sipalay, Jr., O.P.
Rector	Herminio Dagohoy, O.P.
Secretary General	Jesus Miranda, Jr., O.P.
Students	42,271 (as of 2013)
Undergraduates	31,179
Location	Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines
Campus	458m x 462m; 21.5 hectares, Urban
Colors	White, Gold, and Black
Athletics	UAAP
Nickname	Growling Tigers
Mascot	Bengal Tiger
Affiliations	ICUSTA, IAU, AUN, ASAIHL, UAAP, PAASCU, among others.
Website	www.ust.edu.ph

The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, or simply the University of Santo Tomas (UST), is a private, Roman Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on 28 April 1611 by Miguel de Benavides, Archbishop of Manila, it has the oldest extant university charter in the Philippines and in Asia, and is one of the world's largest Catholic universities in terms of enrollment found on one campus. The university is run by the Order of Preachers. UST is the only university to have been visited by three popes four times: once by Pope Paul VI on 28 November 1970, twice by Pope John Paul II on 18 February 1981 and 13 January 1995, and once by Pope Francis on 18 January 2015. The patron of the university is St. Thomas Aquinas, while St. Catherine of Alexandria is the patroness.

The university is composed of several autonomous faculties, colleges, schools and institutes, each conferring undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate degrees, and the basic education units. Several degree programs have been accredited by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development. Moreover, it was awarded with an Institutional Accreditation by the CHED through the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines. In December 2013, the university was recognized to have the highest number of accredited programs in the country by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities' Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA).