De La Salle University

The university started as a boys' elementary and high school. In 1920 it began offering a two-year Associate in Arts Commerce program, which was later discontinued in 1931 in favour of a Bachelor of Science in Commerce programme. DLSU currently offers coeducational undergraduate and graduate degree programmes through its seven colleges and one school specializing in various disciplines, including business, engineering and liberal arts. The university is identified by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a "Center of Excellence" in six of its programmes, and a "Center of Development" in 3 of its programmes. The university is also among the 40 institutions granted autonomous status by CHED as of 2010. Likewise, it is the first of the only two institutions granted the highest-level accreditation (Level IV) by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). The university ranks 151-160th and 601-650th in the 2013 Asian University Rankings and 2013 World University Rankings, respectively, published by Quacquarelli Symonds. The university is a member of several international university associations, including the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and International Association of Universities (IAU) as well as local organizations such as the South Manila Inter-Institutional Consortium.