U-Trip: UST Gen-San and Sta.Rosa

In preparation for 2011, UST puts into action its vision of an “extended physical presence beyond Manila” and  what better way to do that other than make a new campus? Yes, you heard it right, the Royal and Pontifical university is now establishing campuses outside realms of Manila. Soon to rise are campuses in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and General Santos City in Mindanao.

Currently on-going is the university construction in Santa Rosa, Laguna that was said to occupy a land area of 440,000 square meters. Courses will likely be similar to the ones offered in the Main campus and is predicted to be the regional leader in information and communication technologies and of course, in the university’s forte, the allied medical sciences. The campus is set to be on full operation in 2011, in time for the awaited quadricentennial.

Another project ongoing the planning stage is the Mindanao campus which will be located in Barangay Ligaya, General Santos City wherein a European agency is ready to finance the construction once it receives a master plan from the University. The said agency has also supported several non-government universities around the world and UST would be the first in the Philippines. UST Gen-San’s infrastructures will most likely be a replica of the Manila campus. The satellite campus will also house a hospital and a church.

UST General Santos will cover an area of 800,000 square meters and it will be the biggest university in Mindanao. In fact,  the university had already built structures and facilities such as the  Benavides Staff House, Virgin Coconut Oil Research (VCO) Facility with more or less 6,000 coconut trees to be utilized commercially, and a high school building which was already donated to the barangay. No reports have been given with regard to the construction of the university buildings.