In November 2020, the university's long continued run in academic excellence has resulted for it to be ranked by Quacquarelli Symonds in its list of "Top Universities in Asia and the World for 2021", the first highed education institution to do so in the Western Visayas region. CPU placed in the 601+ bracket ranking (8th place in bracket ranking and 13th place in numbering in the Philippines) among other Asian universities in the list. Quacquarelli Symonds or QS is one of the big three world university ranking agencies along with Times Higher Education (THE) and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).