National Chi Nan University, Puli, Nantou, Taiwan · May 6, 2026
There are moments in an institution’s life when the numbers speak with unmistakable clarity, and this is one of them. This achievement belongs to every person who has ever believed in Baguio Central University: its President, its Vice Presidents, its Deans, its Faculty, its Staff, its Students, and every partner who has walked this journey with us. To all of you, this is dedicated with gratitude, pride, and joy.
At the 6th Hanseatic League of Universities Annual Conference and WURI 2026 Global Rankings Ceremony, a milestone was announced that Baguio Central University will long remember. BCU has climbed 59 places in the WURI 2026 Global Rankings, rising from #302 last year to #243 in the WURI Top 500 Universities. The leap in overall ranking is only part of the story. BCU has also secured a place in the Top 100 across seven distinct categories out of twenty-four, including a stunning #7 in the world for Culture and Values, a distinction that worth celebrating.
The announcement was made from the green and sustainable campus of National Chi Nan University in Puli, Taiwan, where BCU Dean of the Graduate School and International Relations Officer Dr. Genevieve Balance Kupang was in attendance. That BCU’s ranking result to date was announced while its representative stood on an international stage, presenting and documenting as the appointed WURI historian from 2024 to date. It is a reflection of who BCU is becoming.
Heartfelt gratitude to each member of this remarkable team
Dr. Margarita Cecilda B. Rillera, Dr. Elma D. Donaal, Ms. Emalyn I. Maranes, Ms. Dannadrae A. Roy, Engr. Criselda S. Felix, Ms. Marga L. Taganas, Dr. Gina L. Casi, Ms. Rufina T. Cas-oy, Dr. Samuel K. Neyney, Dr. Aurelia C. Abansi, Engr. Lorelie S. Malit, Dr. Aileen I. Rafael, Sir Osmundo Lictawa, Dr. Jose R. Balcanao, Dr. Cherrie Mae M. Manuel, Sir Hilario A. Sanglay, Dr. Edna P. Culbongan, Sir Karl Matthieu B. Rillera, Dr. Michael T. Sebullen, Ms. Aiza Bheal M. Kitani, Dr. Jennifer T. Longchasen, Ms. Hazel A. Castillo, Dr. Lourdes M. Trajano, Dean Beca May P. Palitayan, Ms. Mildred C. Depnag, Ms. Agustina P. Balanban, Ms. Sheena Pearl Pangda, and Ms. Italine Joy A. Sanoy. Together, we rise.
The WURI Rankings assess universities the quality and creativity of their innovation. To place in the Top 100 in seven categories is an achievement. Here is what BCU brought to the world’s attention in 2026: #7 in the World for the category of Culture and Values (B4) (Project PEACE and Project HARMONY); #29 for Student Support and Engagement (A1) (Projects BOOST, SPLI-CILEZED, KADWA, and VOICE); #45 for Empowerment-Based Management (B2) (Project KAYABANG); #48 for Curricular Innovation for Future-Readiness (C3) (Project TANGLAW); #52 for Ethics and Integrity (A6) (Project BIYAG) #58 for Representative Research Project (C1) (Project UBBOG); #78 for University Brand and Reputation (B8) (Project EAGLE).
Each of these projects carries a name drawn from Filipino and Cordilleran roots: BIYAG, the Ilocano word for life; TANGLAW, meaning light; KADWA, meaning companion; UBBOG, meaning spring or source. These are names that declare BCU’s innovations grow from the Cordilleran soil, the stories, and the spirit of this institution and the communities it serves.
To our beloved BCU community, from the President to every student: this victory belongs to you. Every hour of effort, every project entry, and every act of institutional faith has carried us here. BCU excellence knows no borders, and this ranking is proof.
The Fruit of Collective Labor
Rankings do not happen by chance. Behind every number is a team, a sleepless night, a revised draft, a phone call made at the end of a long day, and a choice to persist when it would have been easier to stop. Every one of our BCU case implementers and writers knows who they are. We see you, and we are deeply grateful. You desrve to be celebrated.
This result was carried by the WURI evaluators who reviewed 13,211 cases across 24 categories, the writers and project teams who gave language and form to BCU’s innovations, the heads of offices and deans who championed the process with institutional courage, and the Vice Presidents who held the vision steady. And behind all of it: the steady, purposeful leadership of BCU’s President, Dr. Margarita Cecilda B. Rillera, whose trust in this institution’s capacity to compete on the world stage made everything possible. The celebration belongs to all of them.
Dr. Genevieve B. Kupang on HLU’s Stage As a Presenter
Dr. Genevieve Kupang, the International Relations Officer took the podium at the 6th HLU Annual Conference and presented “Beyond Borders and Classrooms: An Ecosystem of Global Talent Development Through Culture, Peace, and Justice-Oriented Engagement.” The session was listed under the track on Global Engagement and Talent Development, with BCU representing not as an observer but as a recognized voice in the global conversation about the future of higher education.
BCU is no longer simply aspiring toward global recognition. It is participating in the conversations that shape it.
What This Means for BCU
A 59-place climb in a single year is significant by any measure. But what makes this result especially meaningful is where BCU excels. The university does not rank highest in infrastructure or research output in the traditional sense. It ranks highest in culture, values, ethics, and student engagement. These are the categories that measure who a university is at its core, what it believes, and how those beliefs show up in the lives of the people it serves.
To be #7 in the world in Culture and Values is to say that BCU, rooted in Baguio City and shaped by the mountains and peoples of the Cordillera, is doing something better. That is extraordinary. And it is deeply, unmistakably BCU.
Looking Forward
This milestone is a foundation, and the work continues to build up on it. The projects that brought BCU into the Top 100 in seven categories are living programs. BOOST, PEACE, SPLI: CILEZD, VOICE, HARMONY, KAYABANG, TANGLAW, BIYAG, UBBOG, AMVISION, DAD-DAD-AT, and EAGLE will continue to grow, deepen, and expand. The institutional culture that produced them will continue to be cultivated.
BCU enters the next phase of its journey as a university that has proven it can stand beside some of the most innovative institutions in the world and be counted among them.
The Cordilleras have always known how to rise.
Veritas. Equitas. Justitia. Libertad.
Credits: Article: Genevieve B. Kupang; Poster: Oswald Rillera. Photo credits: Dr. Jennifer Reyes, Director of the Global Engagement Office,Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation. Dr.Yhing, Manpreet, Sonia (Siam University, Thailand), Dr. Virmari S. Tan (John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University), and Dr. Allan Peejay Lappay (Director, Alumni, External Relations and Advocacies, St. Paul University Philippines, Tuguegarao)