UST opens campus in General Santos
University of Santos Tomas (UST) has unveiled its first campus in Mindanao which will offer courses in business, health, and engineering.
The 82-hectare UST General Santos City in Soccsksargen region was inaugurated by Bishop Cerilo Alan Casicas of Marbel and Dominican Prior Provincial Fr. Filemon dela Cruz Jr.
It will officially open for the academic year 2024-2025 and is expected to have 500 enrollees under offered undergraduate programs such as Accounting Information Systems, Entrepreneurship, Industrial Engineering, Medical Technology, and Pharmacy.
According to the CBCP News report, the main building, designed after the nearly century-old UST Main Building in Manila can accommodate up to 5,000 students. The seven-story main building has 24 classrooms, 23 laboratories, a chapel, a library, a clinic, an auditorium, a cafeteria, organization rooms, and function halls.
UST Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. said that the major expansion “represents the Catholic university’s bid to make General Santos City an educational center in the region.”
It added that it will break ground on April 25 for another major campus structure, the Dr. Ricardo S. Po, Sr. Integrated Innovation and Research Laboratories, named after the Century Pacific Food Inc. founder and UST alumnus.
The Pontifical University was founded in 1611 by Miguel de Benavides, O.P., the third bishop of Manila. It was declared the Catholic University of the Philippines by Pope Pius XII in 1947.