TL;DR: General Santos City's strongest private-school options are Notre Dame of Dadiangas University (NDDU) — the city's only private university, founded 1953 — along with Notre Dame Siena College, Holy Trinity College, Brokenshire College SOCSKSARGEN, Mindanao Polytechnic College, Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges, STI College, and New Brighton School for full K-12. Most don't publish tuition online; STI's Senior High promo ran "as low as ₱700/month" for SY 2024-2025. Confirm current fees directly with each school.
Why General Santos families are searching for the right private school
If you're raising a family or building a career in General Santos City (GenSan), you already know the private-school landscape here looks different from Manila or Cebu. There's no cluster of international schools competing for tuition dollars — instead, GenSan's options are a mix of century-old Catholic institutions, a nationwide chain campus, and a handful of specialists built around one thing they do well, like maritime training or health sciences.
This guide covers eight private schools and colleges actually operating in General Santos City, verified against each school's own site, Wikipedia, and other public records. We looked at what each is actually known for — accreditation status, founding history, and specialization — rather than guessing at rankings nobody publishes. Where a school's tuition is real and sourced, we say so; where it isn't published anywhere we could verify, we tell you that too instead of inventing a number.
If you want to browse every listed school in the city at once, including public options, check SchoolFinderPH's General Santos city page.
What are the best private schools in General Santos City?
GenSan's top private schools split into three groups: the Catholic K-12-through-college institutions (NDDU, Notre Dame Siena, Holy Trinity), the specialist colleges (Mindanao Polytechnic for maritime, Brokenshire for health sciences), and the chain/vocational options (STI) plus dedicated K-12 providers (New Brighton).
| School | Founded | Levels | Known For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame of Dadiangas University | 1953 | SHS + College + Graduate | Only private university in GenSan |
| Notre Dame Siena College | Accredited since 1985 | Basic Education | PAASCU Level II, Dominican-run |
| Holy Trinity College | 1984 | College + Grad | Largest enrollment (6,652 students) |
| Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges | 1957 | Basic Ed + College | WURI 2025 global innovation ranking entrant |
| Brokenshire College SOCSKSARGEN | Parent school 1954 | College + Grad | Health sciences, nursing |
| Mindanao Polytechnic College | 1980 | College | Maritime/seafarer programs |
| STI College - General Santos | Part of nationwide network | SHS + College | Low-cost SHS enrollment promos |
| New Brighton School of the Philippines | — | Kinder-SHS | Full K-12, TESDA-linked TVET tracks |
Disclaimer: tuition, fees, and enrollment promotions change every school year and by program — verify current figures with each school's admissions or finance office before budgeting.
Is Notre Dame of Dadiangas University really the only private university in GenSan?
Yes, as far as current public records show. Notre Dame of Dadiangas University (NDDU) was founded in 1953 and is run by the Marist Brothers (FMS), a Roman Catholic religious congregation. It was granted full university status on June 26, 2006, under CHED Memorandum Order No. 48, and Wikipedia describes it as currently the only private university in General Santos City — meaning other private institutions in the city are colleges, not universities, even where they offer degree programs.
NDDU is a PAASCU member and belongs to the Notre Dame Educational Association (NDEA), a network of Catholic schools across Mindanao. It runs four colleges — Business, Health Sciences, Education/Arts/Sciences, and Engineering/Architecture/Technology — on top of basic education. Its most notable alumnus is boxer-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao, a point of local pride that comes up often in GenSan school conversations.
What sets Notre Dame Siena College and Holy Trinity College apart?
Notre Dame Siena College is run by Dominican Sisters and traces back to a 1985 accreditation of its combined predecessor schools; Holy Trinity College is GenSan's largest private institution by enrollment, at 6,652 students.
Notre Dame Siena College of General Santos City formed from the merger of two earlier girls' schools — Notre Dame of Lagao for Girls and Notre Dame of Dadiangas for Girls — under the Dominican Sisters. Its basic education program holds PAASCU Level II accreditation, initially granted in April 1985 and currently valid through May 2027, a solid signal of consistent quality assurance over four decades.
Holy Trinity College has a more unusual origin story: it started in 1984 as the Albano Piano School, added preschool, then elementary (1986), high school (1988), and finally college status in 1990. Today it's recognized by CHED's Institutional Quality Assurance through Monitoring and Evaluation (IQuAME) as a "Developing Institution," with several programs carrying ACSCU-AAI accreditation. It's also a hometown-pride footnote for pop culture fans: actor Gerald Anderson attended Holy Trinity's high school and played varsity basketball there.
Which GenSan school specializes in health sciences or nursing?
Brokenshire College SOCSKSARGEN, Inc. is the clearest answer — it's a General Santos satellite campus of Brokenshire College in Davao City, which began in 1954 as the Brokenshire School of Nursing.
Brokenshire College SOCSKSARGEN is administered by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), making it Protestant rather than Catholic — a distinction worth knowing if religious affiliation matters to your family. Beyond nursing and other health sciences, it also offers Business and Arts and Sciences programs, but health sciences remain its core identity given its parent institution's origin as a dedicated nursing school seven decades ago.
Which school should I pick for maritime or vocational training?
Mindanao Polytechnic College (MPC), founded in February 1980 by former Port of General Santos harbor pilot Captain Arturo A. Aguilar and his wife Susan R. Aguilar, was the only maritime school in the SOCCSKSARGEN region at the time it opened. It still offers BS Marine Engineering and BS Marine Transportation as its flagship programs, alongside mechanical engineering, hotel and restaurant management, customs administration, and information technology. The school moved from rented downtown buildings to its current three-hectare Crossing Makar campus in 1981 and became a full college in 1984.
If your family is weighing a seafaring or engineering career path rather than a traditional four-year liberal arts route, MPC is the GenSan school built specifically around that decision.
What about STI College and full K-12 options like New Brighton?
STI College - General Santos runs Senior High School tracks (ABM, HUMSS, STEM, ICT, Hospitality and Tourism) plus college programs in IT, business, accountancy, hospitality, and tourism, as part of the nationwide STI chain. In a promotional Facebook post for the first term of school year 2024-2025, STI College - General Santos advertised: "Quality education must be accessible to all. Pay for as low as ₱700 per month when you enroll in Senior High School." That's a real, dated, attributed figure — not a year-round rate, and enrollment promotions change every term, so confirm the current offer before counting on it.
For families who want one school covering kindergarten through Senior High without switching institutions, New Brighton School of the Philippines, Inc. is a full K-12 option along Quezon Avenue in Dadiangas West. It's recognized by TESDA and CHED for technical-vocational (TVET) course offerings on top of the standard DepEd curriculum, and the school markets itself around industry linkages and foreign-language integration in its curriculum.
Is there another IT or business-focused option besides STI?
Yes — College of Saint Adeline operates in General Santos as part of the nationwide Datamex network (formally Datamex College of Saint Adeline), the same chain-school model as STI but under a different brand. It offers CHED- and TESDA-accredited programs in BS Computer Science, BS Information Technology, BS Hotel and Restaurant Management, BS Tourism Management, and BS Office Administration, positioning it as a second computer- and hospitality-focused alternative to STI for GenSan students who want a tech or service-industry degree without committing to a traditional university track.
How to choose a private school in General Santos
Match the school to your child's track, not just its reputation. A degree-focused family aiming for a four-year college program has different priorities than one weighing a maritime or TESDA-aligned vocational path.
| Priority | Best-fit School(s) |
|---|---|
| University-level education, broadest program range | Notre Dame of Dadiangas University |
| Girls'-school heritage, established Catholic basic ed | Notre Dame Siena College |
| Large, established college with grad programs | Holy Trinity College |
| Maritime/seafarer career track | Mindanao Polytechnic College |
| Nursing/health sciences | Brokenshire College SOCSKSARGEN |
| Low-cost SHS enrollment, IT/business tracks | STI College - General Santos |
| Single school for Kinder through SHS + TVET | New Brighton School of the Philippines |
| National recognition, international partnerships | Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges |
Check accreditation status, not just age. An older founding date doesn't automatically mean better academics — PAASCU or PACUCOA accreditation levels (like Notre Dame Siena's Level II or Capitol-tier universities' Level III/IV programs elsewhere in Mindanao) are a more direct signal of externally verified quality.
Ask about total cost, not just tuition. Since most GenSan private schools don't post detailed fee breakdowns publicly, call the admissions or finance office and ask specifically about tuition, miscellaneous fees, and any required uniforms, books, or lab fees before enrollment.
Consider the congregation or sponsoring body if religion matters. Catholic families have three distinct options here (Marist, Dominican, and independent Catholic), while Brokenshire's UCCP affiliation makes it the Protestant alternative among GenSan's established colleges.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare tuition and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH. For more on weighing cost against value, see our guides on private vs. public school cost and how to choose a school in the Philippines.
Sources
- Notre Dame of Dadiangas University — Wikipedia
- Mindanao State University – General Santos — Wikipedia
- Holy Trinity College of General Santos City — Wikipedia
- Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges — Wikipedia
- Notre Dame-Siena College of General Santos City — PAASCU
- Brokenshire College — Wikipedia
- Mindanao Polytechnic College — Wikipedia
- STI College General Santos — official Facebook post, May 2024
- New Brighton School of the Philippines — official site
- STI College General Santos — official campus page
- College of Saint Adeline (Datamex network) — GenSanHub
