The University of the Philippines is the premier university in the Philippines. It trains the best minds in the country. Admission to the university is highly competitive. Among faculty members are national artists, award-winning writers, renowned scholars and decorated scientists. 

Established in 1908, the university initially had three colleges only: the College of Fine Arts, the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Medicine and Surgery occupying buildings distributed along Padre Faura and R. Hidalgo in Manila. There was also a School of Agriculture in Los Banos, Laguna. The succeeding years saw the establishment of additional colleges: the College of Law and the College of Engineering in Manila. The Los Banos unit added the College of Agriculture and Forestry.

On February 12, 1949, a motorcade made its way from Padre Faura all the way to a cogon-strewn expanse in Quezon City. At its head, borne on an open vehicle, was the Oblation, the bronzed symbol of the University of the Philippines. This motorcade marked the university's transfer from its original site in Manila to its 493-acre campus in Diliman.

Since 1908, U.P. has grown into a federation of six constituent universities and one autonomous college. The U.P. system has 11 campuses strategically spread across the country. -- U.P Diliman, U.P Los Banos, U.P. Manila, U.P. Baguio, U.P. Clark, U.P. Cebu, U.P. Iloilo, U.P. Tacloban, U.P. Mindanao and U.P. Open University (distance education).

U.P. Diliman is the flagship university of the U.P. system. It is the administrative seat of the system and an autonomous university. U.P. Diliman is the home of diverse colleges, offering 94 graduate and undergraduate courses. It also runs several centers of research, many of which have been declared by the Commission on Higher Education as "National Centers of Excellence." U.P. Aguman is based in U.P. Diliman.

To be educated in U.P. is to share its vibrant cultural and intellectual life. Learning continues outside the classrooms. Various forums and discussion groups on a wide range of topics and national issues broaden minds and shape critical consciousness.

With more than 200 university-based organizations, U.P. teems with activities that reflect the varied concerns of students. The University Student Council serves as the students' collective voice in matters affecting the university and the nation. The Collegian, a student-run weekly paper, has produced nationally renowned journalists. During the years of dictatorship, the paper was the Filipino people's alternative newspaper. Today, it continues to be a venue for free expression and lively exchanges of student views and ideas.

The U.P. landscape resonates with theater, dance and musical performances, art exhibits, poetry readings and film screenings. Even nonconventional spaces are maximized to give free rein to creativity and innovativeness. Campus artists turn street pavements, building walls, parking lots, the lagoon and sunken garden into sites for their art.

U.P. is home to the internationally acclaimed U.P. Madrigal Singers, the U.P. Concert Chorus, the U.P. Singing Ambassadors and the Filipiniana Dance Troupe. The Kontemporaryo Gamelan Pilipino, Teatro Mulat, the U.P. Repertory and Dulaang U.P. have attracted national and international attention with their ingenious integration of foreign influences and traditional elements to create music and theater art productions that are distinctly Filipino, yet modern in spirit.

The U.P. Creative Writing Center, which prides itself with a roster of multi-awarded artists, conducts workshops for the nation's young and aspiring writers from all over the Philippines. It hosts the annual writers night that attracts the best writers in the country.

For information on the University of the Philippines, visit its Web site at www.up.edu.ph or contact:

U.P. System Information Office
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Tel. No. (632) 436-7537
Telefax: (632) 926-1572

Office of Admissions
Telefax: (632) 927-4561
E-mail: oadms@up.edu.ph. 

Below are the official songs of the university system:

U.P. Naming Mahal
U.P. naming mahal
Pamantasang hirang
Ang tinig namin
Sana'y iyong dinggin
Malayong lupain
Amin mang marating
Di rin magbabago and damdamin
Di rin magbabago ang damdamin

Luntian at pula
Sagisag magpakialan man
Pagdiriwang natin bulwagan ng dangal
Humayo't itanghal, giting at tapang
Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan
Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan

U.P. Beloved
U.P. beloved, our Alma Mater dear
For thee united, our joyful voices hear
Far though we wander, o'er islands yonder
Loyal thy sons we will ever be.
Loyal thy sons we will ever be.
Echo the watchword, the red and green forever.
Give out the password,
to the Hall of brave sons rare.
Sing forth the message, ring out with courage
All hail, thou hope of our dear land.
All hail, thou hope of our dear land.