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The Philippine Star

January 29, 2026 | 12:00am

Addressing the brain drain

MANILA, Philippines —  Home to more than 84,000 students, National University’s presence in seven cities outside of Metro Manila has not only expanded access to higher quality education but also access to professional opportunities.

These seven provincial areas include NU Bacolod, the university’s first campus in the Visayas, which has 96 percent local employees and the remaining are from other campuses who moved to Bacolod. NU Laguna has 99 percent local employees; NU Baliwag has 98 percent local employees; NU Dasmariñas has 96 percent with four percent transferees; NU Lipa has 98 percent local employees, and NU Clark has 97 percent local employees. NU Cebu, which opened this academic year, has 100 percent local hires.

NU’s presence especially in the provinces allows professors and students to access quality education and employment without leaving their hometown. The university’s standardized compensation package across its campuses attracts talent while helping address brain drain in the provinces.

“We bring talent back to the provinces. NU offers a standardized salary matrix applicable to all our employees across the country. This approach has helped NU make our recruitment more appealing to applicants in provincial regions,” NU president and CEO Renato Carlos Ermita said.

“NU is part of SM’s corporate social responsibility. By allowing the campus to be a part of the SM community,accessibility is achieved and affordability is maintained. Transportation hubs are also located near most of the mall-based campuses, allowing safety and convenience for the students and employees,” he said.

As the university celebrated its 125th founding anniversary, its quasquicentennial year, recently at the SM MOA Sky, thousands of NU alumni attended the event. This, as NU aims to continue providing its students, eventually graduates, with world class and life-ready education to enable them to be competitive in whatever arena they are in, provincial or otherwise.