Ateneo de Manila: Ready for Tomorrow

The Ateneo de Manila is proud of a tradition of excellence in academics and service that it has nurtured through the more than 150 years it has existed. It is one of the oldest Jesuit administered institutions of higher learning in Asia. The Ateneo traces its roots to 1859, when the City of Manila entrusted to the Jesuit Fathers the administration of the Escuela Municipal de Manila, located in Intramuros, the old walled city.

The Jesuits soon expanded the Escuela Municipal’s primary school curriculum to include a five-year program leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree. In keeping with its new academic status, the school was renamed the Ateneo Municipal de Manila.

Among the first graduates of the Bachelor of Arts program was the Philippines’ national hero, Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal (AB 1877).

In 1901, the city withdrew its subsidy to the school, and the Ateneo officially became a private institution. It changed its name to Ateneo de Manila, as it is currently known.

The spirit of excellence embodied by the Ateneo’s inspiring namesake, the Athenaeum in ancient Rome, is reflected in its growth into an active, fully accredited, and much esteemed University with a grade school, high school, and undergraduate and graduate programs in the arts, sciences, law, management, education, medicine and government.

Ateneo de Manila University stands proud as one of the Philippines' leading and influential institutions of higher learning.

Ateneo is formed by its rich and compelling history, its distinct character and heritage, its reputation for excellence in teaching, learning, and discovery, and its contributions to advancing human knowledge and society.

Ateneo is forward looking, global in outlook, ready to face and adapt to the challenges of tomorrow, firmly rooted to its Filipino, Catholic, and Jesuit core.

A unique identity

Ateneo de Manila is proudly Filipino, devotedly Catholic, and uniquely Jesuit.

Its holistic, liberal, and humanistic learning and formation stems from its Jesuit roots, the manifestation of a 500-year-old educational tradition.

It is a Catholic institution, dedicated to upholding the Faith, and fulfilling the Church’s mission to serve the last, the least, and the lost.

And it is a Filipino institution, proud of its rich heritage and significant role in nation-building, its daughters and sons contributing to its social, cultural, economic, and political life.

The Loyola Schools

The Loyola Schools is Ateneo de Manila’s tertiary education unit, a center of excellence of higher learning that is globally competitive while Asian in perspective.

It is a community that transforms society through its research and creative work; its leadership in service to others and for the environment; and its formation of persons-for-other.

It offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the arts, sciences, and business through its four component schools: Humanities, Management, Science and Engineering, and Social Sciences.

You will find your place in one of the four schools, and at the same time belong to the much larger Loyola Schools community, fostering diversity, community, and interdisciplinary learning.

Ateneo’s Manila

Manila is more than just a part of Ateneo's name. Manila is our home city, whose story and heritage is intertwined with ours.

It is an economic, political, cultural, and social nexus, a real-world classroom that will give you an endless array of experiences that will mold you as a person and citizen.

Our immediate vicinity, Loyola Heights, is a students’ community, due to its proximity to several top colleges and universities like Ateneo - a lively and welcoming urban community with a youthful, energetic vibe.

Ateneo de Manila believes learning should encompass your overall development, giving you the tools and skills necessary to build a career, to realize your full potential as an individual, and to become a responsible and engaged citizen.

Student-centered learning places you at the heart of instruction. Teaching facilitates active participation and independent inquiry, and instills in you the joy of learning inside and outside the classroom.

How and when you learn is just as important. Ignatian pedagogy emphasizes learning, grounded in experience, repetition for depth, the provision of many examples and exercises to ensure mastery, and constant guidance and personal care (cura personalis). This process of self-reflection on deeper meaning and purposes leads to a careful weighing of options and considered action.

Your Ateneo college journey will hopefully transform you into a person of competence, conscience, compassion, and commitment. An Ateneo education does not simply prepare you for a job; it prepares you for life.

Learn more about Academics

Core Curriculum: The Heart of Ateneo College Education

The core curriculum is the hallmark and heart of your Ateneo college education. It strives for both academic competence and value formation, through a deliberate progression of learning.

Foundational courses sharpen your language and communication skills and equip you with basic scientific and mathematical tools. Courses which explore faith and spirituality, and facilitate self-understanding, prepare you for investigating and knowing the world, and defining yourself in the world – bringing you to a readiness to discern life options and make life choices.

Our hope is that you will become a leader who will engage the world and commit yourself to using your competences to work for social transformation, rooted in a mature Christian faith.

Learn more about the Core Curriculum

Majors and Concentrations: What to study

In Ateneo, there is an undergraduate major that will suit your interests and future plans. Each one of the 49 majors and specializations is comprehensive and rigorous, providing you with the best preparation for your future career, or for further studies.

Learn more about Degree Programs and Majors

Research and Innovation with Real-World Impact

Produce research and creative work with real-world impact and influence.

Ateneo's contribution to the advancement of human knowledge through innovation, inquiry, and insight is in line with the current challenges and demands of the Philippine economy, culture, and society, set in an emerging and transforming global context.

Your business ideas will grow and take flight. Learn entrepreneurial skills hands-on by operating your own food business on-campus or develop your product or service ideas from concept to reality, mentored by expert faculty.

Creativity that Enriches Humanity

Your creativity will soar to new heights.At the heart of Ateneo’s arts renaissance is Arete, the university's creativity and innovation hub.

Foster collaboration across disciplines and sectors, in the hopes of developing solutions to today’s problems, and to realize innovations that will shape our tomorrow.

Arete is an invitation, a dare - a challenge to realize the possibilities that can only be unlocked by deliberate play, collaborative experimentation, and thoughtful processes that are never exempt from constant reimagining.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Fulfill your dreams without worrying about your finances. In Ateneo, your ability to pay is not a hindrance to a life-changing education, and we believe in helping deserving students finance their education.

Scholarships and financial aid packages are given to many deserving students every year, thanks in large part to many generous donors and benefactors - a number of them former scholars themselves who are now paying forward the generosity extended to them. Nearly one-fifth of the student body receive a form of scholarship or financial aid.

Internships and Student Mobility

Bridge theoretical knowledge with practical experience through internships and on-the-job training opportunities. Choose from a wide range of companies, organizations, and research centers, where you can apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to real-world situations, and have a headstart in your career, even before graduation.

Expand your worldview through student mobility programs. Choose to spend a semester or an equivalent term overseas to take courses at a partner university. At the same time, immerse yourself in unique experiences that will open your eyes both to new cultures, and to what makes us all human.

Engage with the world through Ateneo’s far-reaching network of international partners. Ateneo’s wide network of partner institutions around the world gives opportunities for you to develop a global view and competencies necessary to navigate a more interconnected society.

Formation and Social Development

Develop and integrate your personal, academic, socio-cultural, and spiritual lives through the co-curriculum, or the Integrated Ateneo Formation Program (InAF).

You will be honed to harness your academic competence and training in the service of nation-building even as you act on your responsibilities as global citizens. You will be guided by Ignatian discernment and nurtured by a personal relationship with God, strongly oriented towards faith and justice, and rooted in culture.

Campus Life

The Loyola Schools of the Ateneo is situated in the sprawling Loyola Heights campus of the university - your home throughout college, one that you will always be returning to for the rest of your life.

Entering the campus, one steps into gently rolling terrain with grassy fields and tall trees providing a favorable environment for disciplined inquiry, fruitful interaction, and quiet reflection.

Feel welcome and safe in a community that is open to people of different backgrounds. Diversity and openness is part of what makes the Ateneo community unique and alive, and we are always working to improve and become more inclusive and safe for everyone.

From OrSem to Blue Roast, your Ateneo college experience is filled with unique events and experiences that will always make you feel proud to be a Blue Eagle.

Student Activities and Athletics

Ateneo de Manila is proud of its vibrant and diverse student organization culture - a vital component in student formation. A vast array of student activities caters to the wide spectrum of student interests.

Ateneo's sporting legacy spans decades, producing some of the nation's greatest athletes who have proudly carried not just the Blue and White, but also the nation's colors here and abroad.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles is a dominant force in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the country's top collegiate sports league.

On campus, take part in athletics-oriented activities, by joining a sports organization, or by taking part in tournaments under the Intramurals Athletics Council (IAC).

Open your eyes and engage with the wider world - a world beyond the confines of your comfort zone.

An Ateneo education will help you discern not just what is good; it will hopefully lead you to choosing the more loving option: the option that will have the greatest positive impact.

Making a Difference in Society

An Ateneo education bestows upon you countless opportunities to grow, to get a headstart in life - and we also give you countless opportunities to give back and help in improving the lives of others.

Ateneo stays true to its mission of forming persons for and with others, through its programs and projects on poverty alleviation, capacity building, and community empowerment. It is also part of the co-curriculum, woven into the various formation programs.Student organizations also have long-running community service and volunteering programs.

Alumni: Setting the World on Fire

St Ignatius sent the Jesuits to their missions with one message: “ite, inflammate omnia.” Go forth, set the world on fire. A call to the missionaries to set the world ablaze: a blaze that brings life, a flame that illuminates and highlights the truth, a fire that lights a passion in people to make a difference.

It is a call that still rings true today, a call Ateneo alumni all over the world are heeding.

A Sustainable Campus

Ateneo’s campus is a 90-hectare oasis of green in the middle of a crazy, bustling metropolis - and we intend to make it stay that way.

Ateneo is actively pursuing sustainability efforts, showing that living sustainably alongside nature is possible, and fulfilling our duty as stewards of God’s creation.

The ultimate aim of an Ateneo education is to form persons who will always choose to make a positive difference in the world, whatever path they take.

Where the Path Takes You

After Ateneo, the world is at your fingertips.

An Ateneo degree will be your ticket to a rewarding career or further studies, a step towards making tomorrow - yours and others - a better one.

Nearly half of Ateneo graduates go directly to industry within and outside the country, from micro, small, and medium enterprises, to budding startups, to large multinational companies.

Go beyond your undergraduate education and take up further studies.

Become an educator and help form tomorrow's citizens and leaders, today.

Go out and serve those at the margins of society through development and social work.

Build your own business, be your own boss, and become a driving force in the economy.

Help steer the nation’s path and become a public servant.

Go ahead, blaze your own trail. The opportunities are endless, the future boundless.

Ateneo de Manila is open to everyone, regardless of background, belief, or economic status. Our students come from all over the Philippines, and all over the world. They may come from a long line of Ateneo graduates, or be the first one in their family to go to college. There are athletes and mathletes; engineers and musicians; dancers and designers; scientists and artists; community volunteers and entrepreneurs; and many more.

All of them have a common theme: Each one was selected to become part of our student body based on their passion for learning; hunger for personal growth; openness to new ideas and experiences; heart for service; and a potential to create a positive difference in the lives of others.

Admissions Overview

Admission to the Ateneo Loyola Schools is open to qualified young men and women, regardless of nationality, creed, gender, residence, or financial capability. Admission is determined by the applicant's fitness and preparation for the college programs, ability to contribute toward the enrichment of the undergraduate school community, and potential to be of service to others within the context of national development.

The members of each freshman batch are selected by the Committee on Admission and AId, which bases decisions on past academic performance, on the recommendations of teachers, and on information written down on the application form. You may also apply as a transferee.

Go to Application and Admissions

We invite you to browse through the Ateneo College Viewbook 2022-23 to learn more about Ateneo, the Ateneo way of learning and teaching, and what an Ateneo education will bring you.

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