University Of The Santo Tomas

THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS IS THE OLDEST EXISTING UNIVERSITY in Asia. In terms of the student population, it is the largest Catholic university in the world in terms of student population located in a single campus. The institution was established through the initiative of Bishop Miguel de Benavides, O.P., the third Archbishop of Manila. On July 24, 1605, he bequeathed the amount of P1,500 and his personal library for the establishment of a seminary-college to prepare young men for the priesthood. Those funds, and his personal library, became the nucleus for the start of UST and its library. The founding of the University of Santo Tomas followed on April 28, 1611. The original campus was located in Intramuros, the Walled City of Manila. UST was first called Colegio de Nuestra Senora del Santisimo Rosario, and later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomas, in memory of the foremost Dominican Theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas. On July 29, 1619 the Colegio was authorized to confer academic degr...