TL;DR: UST-Legazpi, in Legazpi City, Albay, shares its name with the University of Santo Tomas in Manila but is a separate, independently governed institution with its own Board of Trustees, run by the Dominican Order in Bicol. It was Aquinas University of Legazpi until a 2017 rename. UST-Legazpi does not publish detailed per-program tuition online, but independent aggregators place local undergraduate tuition under roughly ₱56,000 a year, well below UST Manila's pricing. It runs about 23 college programs across four colleges plus Law and Graduate School, with a strong regional reputation in Bicol and its own scholarship programs, including a fully-covered Rector's Scholarship.
Why "UST-Legazpi" Confuses So Many Applicants
Searches for "UST Legazpi tuition fee" and "University of Santo Tomas Legazpi" spike every enrollment season, and for good reason: the name genuinely sounds like a UST Manila satellite campus, and most search results don't clearly explain that it isn't one. UST-Legazpi was, until 2017, known as Aquinas University of Legazpi, a long-standing Dominican-run school in Bicol with no formal branding tie to UST at all.
This guide verifies exactly how UST-Legazpi relates to UST Manila, what it actually costs based on the limited public data available, what programs it offers, and what scholarships and admission steps look like. Where we couldn't confirm exact current tuition figures from an official source, we say so plainly rather than guessing. For the Manila-based university's own detailed tuition breakdown, see our separate UST tuition fee guide, which covers University of Santo Tomas in España, Manila specifically.
Tuition, fees, and program offerings change by school year. Confirm current figures directly with UST-Legazpi's admissions or accounting office before enrolling.
Is UST-Legazpi the Same School as UST Manila?
No, they are two separate corporate entities under the same Dominican Order umbrella, not one university with a branch campus. UST-Legazpi retained the Board of Trustees, administrative structure, and fiscal independence it had as Aquinas University, even after adopting the UST name in 2017.
| UST-Legazpi | UST Manila | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Legazpi City, Albay (Bicol) | España, Manila |
| Founded | 1948 (as Legazpi Junior Colleges) | 1611 |
| Governance | Own Board of Trustees; run by the Philippine Province of the Dominican Order (O.P.) | Separately governed under the Dominican Province, its own Board of Trustees |
| Name history | Aquinas University of Legazpi (1968-2017) → UST-Legazpi (2017) | University of Santo Tomas since founding |
| Relationship | Autonomous; select graduate programs (e.g., Pharmacy, Law) coordinated with UST Manila | N/A |
The rebrand traces back to the 10th Chapter of the Dominican Province of the Philippines in April 2012, which resolved to consolidate the order's schools under two shared academic "traditions": Santo Tomas and Letran. Under that mandate, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the name change from Aquinas University of Legazpi to University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi on September 12, 2017. At the time, then-Rector and President Fr. Ernesto Arceo, O.P. said: "UST-Legazpi will remain as an institution whose value is connected with the value of every Bicolano and the tradition that is inculcated herein. However, as part of the change, the intensity toward academic excellence will be highly expected."
In practice, the collaboration is real but limited: UST Manila supervises a handful of UST-Legazpi's programs, including its Master's degrees in Pharmacy and Law, and its BS Pharmacy and BS Medical Technology programs. Day-to-day governance, tuition-setting, admissions, and finances remain entirely UST-Legazpi's own.
How Much Is UST-Legazpi Tuition Fee?
UST-Legazpi does not publish a full program-by-program tuition schedule on its public website the way UST Manila does, so we can't give you the same precise per-college breakdown we'd give for a school with disclosed fee tables. What we can verify: the university charges a ₱500 admission fee for both freshman and transfer applicants, and independent school-fee aggregator UniRank places local undergraduate tuition at under roughly $1,000 (about ₱56,000) per year, a range that, while broad, is consistent with typical pricing at regional Bicol private colleges and clearly below UST Manila and most Metro Manila private universities.
| Cost Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Admission fee (freshman/transfer) | ₱500 |
| Estimated local undergraduate tuition | Under |
| UST Manila comparison | Freshman first-term payment generally ₱50,000-₱81,000 per semester (see our UST tuition fee guide) |
Because UST-Legazpi's own site doesn't disclose per-unit or per-college rates, treat the aggregator figure as a rough planning estimate only, not a quote you can budget against precisely. Contact the UST-Legazpi Admissions Office or Accounting Office directly for your specific program's current computation; expect health-science programs like Nursing, Pharmacy, and Medical Technology to run notably higher than general education, business, or arts programs, following the same pattern seen at most Philippine universities.
What Programs Does UST-Legazpi Offer?
UST-Legazpi runs roughly 23 undergraduate programs across four colleges, plus a standalone College of Law and a Graduate School.
| College | Focus Areas |
|---|---|
| College of Arts, Sciences, and Education (CASE) | Liberal arts, sciences, teacher education |
| College of Health Sciences (CHS) | Nursing, Pharmacy, Medical Technology |
| College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts (CEAFA) | Engineering, architecture, fine arts |
| College of Business Management and Accountancy (CBMA) | Business administration, accountancy |
| College of Law | Juris Doctor; oldest law school in Albay, established 1955 |
Its BS Pharmacy program is the only one of its kind in the Bicol Region, and BS Pharmacy along with BS Medical Technology are coordinated with UST Manila. Basic education offerings include pre-elementary, elementary, junior high (including a science high school track that is a PAASCU Level III candidate), and senior high school.
What Scholarships Does UST-Legazpi Offer?
UST-Legazpi's internal scholarships mostly work as tuition-and-fee discounts tied to academic performance, talent, or financial need, layered on top of standard government aid programs.
- Rector's Scholarship — for the highest-honors Senior High graduate per board program; covers 100% of tuition and miscellaneous fees plus meal, uniform, transport, and book allowances; requires maintaining a 96%+ GWA to retain.
- Teacher Education Grant — 100% tuition and fee discount for BEEd/BSEd students meeting academic and endorsement requirements.
- Sports and Arts Scholarships — tiered discounts of 100%, 75%, or 50% on tuition and fees based on athletic or performing-arts standing combined with academic performance.
- Student Assistantship Program (SAP) — income-based tiered discounts (100%/75%/50%) for financially challenged students who complete an apprenticeship requirement.
- Academic Scholarship — open to qualifying students across all year levels and programs.
- External aid — CHED's Tulong Dunong, PESFA, and Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES), Education Service Contracting, the Senior High School Voucher Program, and partner grants from SM Foundation, the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, and RAFI Microfinance.
Most internal scholarships require a qualifying score on the school's own U-CAT admission exam alongside a minimum general weighted average, so check specific cutoffs with the Scholarships and Placement Office when you apply.
What Are UST-Legazpi's Admission Requirements?
New freshman and transfer applicants pay a ₱500 admission fee and submit standard documents through the university's admissions process, including a report card or transcript, PSA birth certificate, and certificate of good moral character from their previous school. Scholarship applicants face additional requirements, most commonly a qualifying U-CAT percentile score plus a minimum general weighted average that varies by scholarship track, ranging from about 75% to 95%+ depending on the program.
Because the university's public admissions pages don't list a single consolidated document checklist or deadline calendar, confirm the current cycle's exact requirements and dates with the Admissions Office before applying.
How to Decide If UST-Legazpi Is Right for You
UST-Legazpi is a strong regional option if you're based in Bicol and want Dominican Catholic education with solid name recognition, particularly for Nursing, Pharmacy, Law, or Teacher Education, without paying Metro Manila private-school prices. It makes less sense if you're expecting the exact academic resources, class sizes, or research output of UST Manila itself, since despite the shared name, the two operate independently with their own faculty, budgets, and program strengths. If cost transparency matters to you upfront, call the Accounting Office before applying, since UST-Legazpi's published tuition information is far thinner than what UST Manila or many other private universities disclose online.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare tuition and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- UST-Legazpi — Institutional History
- UST-Legazpi — Tertiary Programs
- UST-Legazpi — Scholarships and Grants
- UST-Legazpi — Bulletin Archive
- Wikipedia — University of Santo Tomas–Legazpi
- Rappler — Bicol's Aquinas University is now UST-Legazpi
- ICUSTA — "Aquinas University of Legazpi" now "University of Santo Tomas - Legazpi"
- Philippine News Agency — Bicol's premier school renamed as UST-Legazpi
- UniRank — University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi
