Mapua University expansion underway, says iPeople

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March 8, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Listed iPeople Inc., the education joint venture of the Yuchengco Group and Ayala Corp., is stepping up expansion plans after a surge in enrollment in recent years while expanding its academic partnership with Arizona State University (AUS).

“We have plans to expand in Mapua University, in Laguna. We just broke ground to build a new building in Cabuyao. We’re also in Mindanao, we have plans to build as well,” iPeople president and COO Fred Ayala told reporters on Friday.

The company is also preparing to scale up its Mapua Malayan Digital College, while keeping acquisitions on the table.

“We’re always looking. There’s nothing that is going to happen in the next few months, but we’re always looking for like-minded institutions that share our values, have the same, are aligned with the ambitions,” he told The STAR when asked for further details.

Asked if Ayala Corp. would raise its stake in iPeople, he said: “No, we want to maintain the listing. As you know, there’s a minimum float requirement. For now, I think this is a stable shareholder.”

The conglomerate last year raised its stake in iPeople to 36.3 percent from the previous 33.5 percent.

At the same time, iPeople’s school, Mapua University, has expanded its partnership with AUS that gives access to local students to enhanced courses, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered learning, as well as international student experience.

“This academic partnership is truly comprehensive because all of our Mapua students across all undergraduate and graduate programs in all four Mapua schools will now have access to world-class global education in three very tangible ways,” Ayala said.

Under its comprehensive academic partnership, Mapua students can now access courses enhanced with instructional content from ASU’s vast repository of top-ranked academic programs.

Filipino students can also tap into extensive international student experience opportunities through the SU and its ASU-Cintana Alliance, which includes 35 innovative universities in America, Europe and Asia.

“The collaboration opens numerous cost-effective pathways to international degrees, delivered both on-site and online, giving Filipino students flexible and affordable options to earn global credentials,” Ayala said.

IPeople chairman Reynaldo Vea said the new partnership readies the schools to implement “ladderized programs” in electronics engineering and AI that “will address the present and future needs for workforce development in sectors like advanced manufacturing and electronics.”

Mapua University president Dodjie Maestrecampo said the expanded partnership builds on the success of the initial collaboration with AUS, which ran from 2022 to 2025, initially focused on business, health sciences and medicine.