Student Life

The Mindanao State University was created under the Philippine Republic Act 1387. The Act had formally established the university in Marawi City on September 1, 1961. It is one of the state universities of the Philippines with the aim of providing education for locations across the island of Mindanao. The campus was later expanded to a multi-campus university system now composed of ten autonomous campuses: MSU-Main Campus, MSU-IIT (CHED Center of Excellence in Science and Technology), MSU-General Santos, MSU-Sulu, MSU-Maguindanao, MSU-Naawan, MSU-Tawi-Tawi, and MSU-Buug.

MSU is the only state university in the Philippines with the special mandate of integrating the cultural communities of Mindanao into the mainstream of the nation's socio-cultural and political life. Its stated mission is to attain peace and sustainable development in the Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan region by setting the standards of excellence in science, arts, technology, and other fields. The university also wishes to accelerate the economic, cultural, socio-political, and agro-industrial development of the Bangsamoro and other cultural groups, thereby facilitating their integration into the national community. Lastly, the school system also works to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of the region through the conservation of its rich natural resources. 

The University of Southern Philippines Foundation, or USPF, was founded in 1927. It is a private, non-sectarian educational institution. The university’s main campus is located in Lahug, Cebu City, but it also has a campus in Mabini St., Cebu City.
The USPF was founded by Civil Engr. Agustin Jereza, Dr. Virgilio Gonzales, Atty. Miguel Sanson, Natividad Villa-Albino, Felipe Ouano, Fructuoso Ramos, Hipolito Andrada, and Dr. Jose Mirasol. It was previously called Southern Institute and operated in a rented building located in Colon St., Cebu City. When the students’ population began to increase, they moved to the two-storey building, which is now known as the Mabini Campus. The changed the name from Southern Institute to The Southern College in 1938.
The school was occupied by the U.S Army during World War 2. It was destroyed after the war and reconstructed, with the aid of the U.S Army. It was re-opened in Lahug, Cebu City, with an improved educational program and higher degree courses.
The founders decided to dissolve the usual stock corporation of USP and converted it into a non-stock, non-profit foundation in 1959.

In 1595, the Society of Jesus founded a grammar school in Cebu under the name Colegio de San Ildefonso; it was only the secondary school outside of Manila before the nineteenth century and was opened the same year as their college in Manila. (de la costa, 1992) The Colegio was closed upon the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines in 1768. It was reopened in 1733 when the Diocese of Cebu turned it into a Seminary, the Real Seminario de San Carlos, named after the great patron of ecclesiastical training of the Renaissance. The diocesan clergy administered the Seminario until 1862 when the Dominican Order assumed its administration. To assure a sufficient number of teachers, the Bishop of Cebu (Fray Romualdo Gimeno) asked the Congregation of Saint Vincent de Paul to succeed the Dominicans. In 1867, the Vincentians assumed the administration of the school, now named Seminario-Colegio de San Carlos as it began to admit externos, that is, student who were enrolled without the intention of joining the priesthood. This change in the character of the Seminario has been aptly chronicled by Fenner (1985):

De La Salle College was established on June 15, 1911 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools opened their first school in the Philippines on Calle Nozaleda in Paco, Manila at the request of the then American Archbishop of Manila Jeremiah James Harty.^[1][2] The first classes were conducted in Spanish for the first 125 boys of varying ages and grade levels. During the early years, the Brothers were allowed to offer the full primary and intermediate programs and a three-year commercial secondary school program. The Commercial High School Diploma was first conferred in 1915 to three graduates. In November 1917, the school was allowed to confer an Associate in Arts degree.
In 1921, due to the lack of space on the Nozaleda Campus in Paco, the Brothers made a decision move to in 2401 Taft Avenue in Malate, its present location. Br. Acisclus Michael FSC then secured a vacant space at the southernmost boundary of Manila. The Paco property was then sold on March 19, 1920 to Don Vicente Madrigal, wealthy shipping magnate. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in March 1920 on a purchased lot along Taft Avenue. More than a year later in September 1921, the students and teachers trooped on foot from Paco to a half-finished school designed by architect Tomás Mapúa.