The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines (or simply the "University of Santo Tomas", "UST" or affectionately, "Ustê"), is a private Roman Catholic university run by the Order of Preachers in Manila. One of the world's largest Catholic universities in terms of population, it was established on April 28, 1611. It has the oldest extant university charter in the Philippines. It is the oldest and the largest university in the city of Manila.The University is composed of several autonomous faculties, colleges, schools and institutes, each conferring undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and the basic education units. Several degrees have been accredited by the Commission on Higher Education as Centers of Development and Centers of Excellence.
The campus is located at Manila's Sampaloc district. Composed in an almost perfect square of 220,000 square meters, the present campus was settled on 1927 when the first campus at Intramuros district was deemed inadequate for the university's growing population. The university is at the process of adding new campuses at Sta. Rosa, Laguna, General Santos City and Negombo, Sri Lanka.
The athletic teams are the Growling Tigers, members of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and are consistent winners of the Overall Championship. Prominent Thomasians include saints, Philippine presidents, heroes and religious figures, which have figured well in the history of the Philippines.