Best universities in the Philippines

The topic of higher education institutions (HEIs) is one close to my heart.  Since earning my degrees were accomplished as a US citizen living in the US, my experiences are limited here in the Philippines to doctoral studies.  First, a person must consider the end purpose of obtaining a degree.  Since my purpose for evaluating earning a final degree was to complete my graduate studies, I used the following key elements as a basis for my decision:

1.  What Philippine university had the graduate program that best fit/support my dissertation/research field?

2.  What Philippine university had the equivalent to US regional accreditation? (important for global acceptance of a degree)

3.  What Philippine university had been individually granted the high-level accreditation of the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP)?

4  What Philippine universities were listed in the World Certification Institute (WCI)? (http://www.worldcertification.org/accre … nizations/)

5.  What was the advice from the US embassy and were there any sources for accessing US federal student loan funding?  (https://ph.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-se … ilippines/).

6.  Review of each Philippine university's religious affiliation, partners or administration that would be in conflict with my religious beliefs and practices.

7.  A review of any matriculation options where past/lower US degrees could be granted partial credit for courses/credits already earned with those degrees.

As an American military veteran, my research path may not fit other expat's evaluation processes. 

My research & decision outcome:

1.  I found only five universities in the Philippines with "Institutional Accreditation" by the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP).

2.  Many of these University’s individual academic programs were not individually granted the high-level accreditation (FAAP).

3.  Most of the five universities have "Jesuit" affiliations and would be in conflict with my beliefs.

4.  In many cases, a review of the courses offered illustrated a lag range of ~ 5-15 years behind US technology-based courses and appeared to lack current business-world learner modules. 

5.  None of the Universities in the Philippines offered any advantages to me as an American vet that outweighed the advantages of US-based study programs.  After consideration of all of the above, my goal to have global recognition of my doctoral degree brought me to the realization that Philippine universities could not match US HEI's for American Vet/expats. 

IT/technology support example:  IT support concerns where noted where some university systems were still using Windows XP with near zero Apple OS support.  I use 95% Apple systems and OS including the latest MS Office Mac software. 

Fees example:  A university here in the Philippines offered me a Ph.D. program that was a 5-year program at $28,000 USD (P1,456,000 or P24,266/month).  At the same time, a California University offered me a doctoral program that accepted my two masters (one for meeting the min. degree prerequisites and the other for unit transfer credits) that resulted in my total cost to be $15,000 USD (P780,000 or P21666/month) for a 36-month program (where 21 of the 60 required units were accepted as transfers from my MBA degree).  The transfer policy alone reduced my study years by two and saved me $12600 (P655200) of would be fees/tuition.  Additionally, my US vet status resulted in another 10% fee reduction. 

My shared experiences here only touch on a narrow portion of the question posed.  I fully recognize that expats from other countries and or expats with dependents facing the selection process may have different needs and selection criteria and will adjust their research accordingly.

I don't have a great insight into this at present and can only assist with a response to the following?

This link will take you to a useful site in regards to courses run and the fees of a lot of colleges/universities in the Philippines:

*    http://www.finduniversity.ph/

I don't have much input either other than anecdotal information. Silliman University in Dumaguete, on Negros, is one of the oldest and best. There are several other universities there. Here in Cebu, we have several also. One of the best is University of San Carlos, but it is fairly expensive. There is also the Cebu Institute of Technology for training in technical fields. And University of the Philippines has two campuses here.Two nephews of my GF received their degrees there - one as a seaman and one in Engineering and both are well-employed.

Also highly rated at reasonable cost is University of Cebu, where my GF is working on her IT studies. The courses seem fairly challenging and she's learned a lot of practical and analytical skills which will always benefit her. Could she get a job in IT the US based on this education? Probably not. She would need more study, hands on, and certifications. A call center job here in Cebu? Yes. IT or entry-level programming here? Maybe. So it all depends on the expectations. She pays around 25K per semester for a full load (7-8 classes), plus books.

Well for foreign students who would like to study in the Philippines : most of them will come to learn/study American English. That is in my opinion the main strength : some universities have special programs for foreigners. It is much cheaper than to study in an American university and of high quality.
After that they have high quality courses in very specific sectors like marine biology (Siliman university in Dumaguete is very well known for this specialty for example), or geology (mining, volcano etc.) etc.
Then you have MBA in schools/universities which require to have several years of work experience. The most well known school for that is AIM which has a good reputation.

For the foreign students who would like to stay and work in the Philippines, it will be difficult as the Philippines apply the national preference for the job market. (many Chinese are arrested because they work illegally in the country).
For those who would like to go beyond a Master and take a PhD for example, I am not sure the Philippines would be the best for that. Generally Filipino students do their schooling up to Master in the Philippines and then go abroad for their doctorate.
Many of the private schools are catholic (many religious orders, not only the Jesuits of Ateneo) but you can find also christians/protestants universities (like Siliman). And you have the State universities like University of the Philippines (U.P) with no religious orientation. 

To enter these universities you have to pass a highly competitive entrance exam. Some subjects can be in Filipino so it could an obstacle for a foreigner... Many French students I know are studying in the university through exchanges between schools. They stay a semester and come home after. Like that they avoid the entrance exam and the Filipino subjects...