De La Salle University


De La Salle University, also known simply as La Salle and abbreviated as DLSU, is a private, Catholic research university run by the De La Salle Brothers
located in Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines. It was established in 1911 as the De La Salle College in Nozaleda Street, Paco, Manila with Br. Blimond Pierre FSC serving as first director. The educational institution moved to its present location in 1921 to facilitate the increase in enrollment. The college was granted university status on February 19, 1975 and is the oldest constituent of De La Salle Philippines, a network of 16 Lasallian institutions established in 2006 to replace the De La Salle University System.
The university started as a boys' elementary and high school. In 1920, it began offering a two-year Associate in Arts Commerce program, which was later discontinued in 1931 in favor of a Bachelor of Science in Commerce program. DLSU currently offers coeducational undergraduate and graduate degree programs through its seven colleges and one school specializing in various disciplines, including business, engineering and liberal arts. Students and alumni from La Salle were previously referred to as Lasallites, but the term has since been changed to Lasallians. The patron of the university is St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, the patron saint of teachers and all those who work in the field of education. He is also the founder of the De La Salle Brothers and Lasallian educational institutions.
DLSU is cited by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education as a "Center of Excellence" in 14 of its programs, and a "Center of Development" in 5 of its programs. The university is also among the 40 institutions granted autonomous status by CHED as of 2010. Likewise, it is the first of the only two institutions granted the highest-level accreditation by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities. The university is a member of several international university associations, including the ASEAN University Network and International Association of Universities as well as local organizations such as the South Manila Inter-Institutional Consortium.
De La Salle University ranks 156th and is in the 801-1000 bracket of the 2020 QS Asian University Rankings and 2020 QS World University Rankings, respectively, published by Quacquarelli Symonds. Times Higher Education included De La Salle University in its 2019 edition of Times Higher Education World University Rankings where DLSU was placed in the 801-1000 bracket, which also marked the university's first appearance in the rankings. It joined the University of the Philippines as the only two universities in the Philippines to enter the list, and is the only private university from the Philippines to be included. DLSU also made its debut appearance on the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings in 2019, where it was placed in the 251-300 bracket. Presently, De La Salle University holds the distinction of being the lone Philippine private university to appear in both the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

History

The Philippines was one of the last Southeast Asian countries that the De La Salle Christian Brothers established themselves in. The country before 1898 was dominated by several Spanish religious orders. Several years before the De La Salle Christian Brothers were invited to the Philippines, the local American government ordered Ateneo to modernize and use English as a mode of instruction, but the Spanish Jesuits refused and argued that their allegiance was with Spain. The Americans, after knowing this, made the decision that it would be best for the De La Salle Christian Brothers to take over the task. The Christian Brothers have established several De La Salle schools worldwide that provided Christian values-based education in 35 countries at that time. The Americans have always known that the De La Salle Christian Brothers were up to the given task due to the Brothers' main religious vocation was Christian values-based education. The De La Salle Brothers used innovative teaching methods since their formation in 1725 making them highly knowledgeable, capable, and qualified in providing modern education to the young Filipinos in Manila.
Initially, the De La Salle Brothers were very hesitant in establishing a De La Salle school in the country because the Americans insisted that the first De La Salle school should only educate the rich children of the Filipino ruling elite. The Americans ordered the Christian Brothers to Americanize future Filipino leaders through their Catholic Lasallian education. The American request had put the De La Salle Brothers in a dilemma because it ran contrary to the original teachings and charism of Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, the patron saint of teachers whose religious vocation was to provide tuition-free, quality Christian values-based education. The De La Salle Brothers eventually relented, conceding that the “upper-class children also needed good moral and spiritual training." Saint La Salle's mission was to empower the last, the least and the lost among the poorest children in the world in order to free them from the shackles of ignorance that creates poverty.
De La Salle University traces its founding roots to then Manila Archbishop Jeremiah James Harty. Harty, an alumnus of a Christian Brother school in St. Louis, Missouri, United States believed that the establishment of a De La Salle school in Manila would be instrumental and vital in preempting the spread of Protestantism in the Philippines through the arrival of the Thomasites and American Protestant church missions. His request would be later endorsed in 1907 by Pope Pius X. An envoy of De La Salle Brothers arrived in 1910. Together with Manila Archbishop Harty, the Brothers searched for a suitable campus. A property in Paco, Manila was purchased for this purpose.
ca. 1925
in 2014

Early history

Br. Blimond Pierre Eilenbecker FSC, Br. Aloysius Gonzaga McGiverin FSC, and Br. Augusto Correge FSC, arrived in Manila on March 10, 1911. In two months time, on May 13, the six remaining Brothers of the Founding Community arrive in Manila. They were Br. Ptolomee Louis Duffaux FSC, Br. Goslin Camillus Henri FSC, Br. D. Joseph FSC, Br. Celba John Lynam FSC, Br. Imar William Reale FSC and Br. Martin FSC. De La Salle College officially opened its doors to 125 pupils on June 16, 1911. By July 10, the total number of students reached 175.
On February 12, 1912, the college was incorporated under the sole ownership of the college director, who was then Eilenbecker. Around this time, four more Brothers arrived to teach in Manila in response to Br. Blimond's request for more Brothers to handle the increased teaching load. There were two Frenchmen – Br. Wilfrid FSC of St. Joseph's College, Hong Kong and Br. Basilian Coin FSC from St. Paul's Institution in Seremban, Malaysia; and two Irishmen – Br. Dorotheus Joseph FSC and Br. Egbert Xavier Kelly FSC, one of the younger Brothers to volunteer to the missions. All of them were from the Penang District which the Philippines was under. The college was permitted to confer high school diplomas in the same year. Meanwhile, it received a charter from the Governor-General of the Philippines, allowing the college to confer associate degrees in commerce. It started offering the degree as a two-year program in 1920.
The college already had 425 students by 1921. Due to the lack of space in the original De La Salle College Paco campus, along with the growing population of its student and faculty, the college moved to its present location in 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila. In 1931, the college discontinued its two-year commerce program in favor of a three-year Bachelor of Science in Commerce program, which was approved a year earlier.

Second World War and the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines (1942–1945)

A few hours before the Imperial Japanese Army forcibly took the "Open City" of Manila a contingent of young La Salle boys led by a De La Salle Brother walked from Taft Avenue all the way towards the pre-war Ateneo de Manila, Padre Faura campus, a school with whom it shared a rivalry. During the initial outbreak of the invasion of Manila by the Japanese Marines, several La Salle boys helped secure and save Ateneo's prized "Jesuit Bell" along with several valuable Jesuit religious antiques just before the Japanese shock troops could enter Manila and ransack the Jesuits' pre-war campus.
The American De La Salle Christian Brothers were interred in the Japanese Los Banos, Laguna Prison for the duration of the three-year Japanese occupation of the Philippines while the other non-American Brothers led by then-Brother President Br. Egbert Xavier Kelly FSC and Br. Flavius Leo FSC, both from Ireland, were allowed by the Japanese to stay in the Taft Campus.
Initially, the De La Salle campus served as a secret shelter for several displaced civilians, wounded soldiers and Filipino guerilla fighters at the beginning of the Japanese occupation. However, later on it was occupied by the Japanese forces, and was made into military defense quarters on January 2, 1942. Several repeated bombings severely damaged the DLSC campus. Despite this, classes continued as the Christian Brothers taught on during the Japanese occupation of Manila. During this time, several of the De La Salle boys along with the Ateneo boys had to set their school rivalry aside and share their classrooms with each other along with several other students from various neighboring schools. Several schools in Manila had discontinued their operations and closed down due to the fall of Manila to the Japanese invading forces. The DLSC high school classes were later on transferred to St. Scholastica's College, Manila in 1943.
The classes were eventually discontinued at the De La Salle campus. On February 1, 1945, Japanese forces ordered the occupants of the DLSC and the surrounding vicinity to vacate the college. However, Br. Egbert Xavier Kelly FSC refused the order to vacate. On February 7, 1945, he was abducted by Japanese soldiers, and was never seen again. He was believed to have been mercilessly tortured and killed. On February 12 shortly after noontime, 20 Japanese soldiers came and forcibly barged into the DLSC campus and massacred 16 of the 17 De La Salle Brothers residing in the campus, along with 25 other residents. Only one De La Salle Brother and 21 other civilians survived the tragic event.

Post–war period

Classes resumed in July 1945 with a class of incoming freshmen that was composed of 60 high school graduates. One year later, the College of Commerce reopened with its three-year BS Commerce program extended to a four-year program. The High School Department of De La Salle College on Taft Avenue, Manila was dissolved in 1968 and transferred to La Salle Green Hills on Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong in Metro Manila. The college, together with Ateneo de Manila University, gave birth to the Asian Institute of Management in the same year with assistance from the Ford Foundation and Harvard University. Several other units were established in the following years.
The 1970s marked substantial developments in De La Salle College. The school became co-educational in 1973. On February 19, 1975, De La Salle College was granted university status. Since then it became known as De La Salle University. It also used the name De La Salle University – Manila. Since 2008, it has since referred to itself only as De La Salle University, being its registered name in the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. The Grade School Department was deprecated in 1978.
The 1980s were also significant for the institution. In 1981, De La Salle University shifted from the traditional semestral academic calendar to a trimestral one. In 1987, the university, together with four other Lasallian institutions, became part of the De La Salle University System. The system would later be dissolved in favor of De La Salle Philippines, a network of 16 Lasallian institutions. De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde became independent of the university in 1988. Benilde offers college courses not offered in De La Salle University.

Recent history

An Mk 2 grenade was detonated outside the southern portion of the DLSU campus in front of a popular burger shop along Taft Avenue on September 26, 2010 at around 5:05 pm by opposing rival Law fraternities PST, the same day as the Philippine Bar exams conducted by the university. The blast injured 47 individuals, two of whom required limbs to be amputated. Anthony Leal Nepomuceno was indicted by the Philippine Department of Justice on April 29, 2011, on the charge of detonating the device.
In 2012, De La Salle Canlubang was formally merged with De La Salle University and became an extension of DLSU. It was inaugurated as the present-day De La Salle University Science and Technology Complex. In 2015, DLSU announced that it would open its Manila campus for senior high school students in response to the K–12 implementation. The Senior High School classes officially opened on June 1, 2016.

Campuses

Manila (Main Campus)

The main campus consists of 19 buildings located on a lot in 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila. The campus faces to its right the main campus of De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde, a sister Lasallian institution, and the Vito Cruz Station of the Manila LRT Line 1. As part of the University Belt, several other colleges and universities, including St. Scholastica's College, Manila and Philippine Women's University, can be found near the campus.
The buildings have a combined floor area of, and mostly feature neoclassical design. These include:
Construction of the Henry Sy Sr. Hall began on December 2, 2010 as part of the university's Centennial Renewal Plan, a project that aims to construct and renovate facilities inside the campus. A 14-floor building, it replaced DLSU's football field with plans for completion by December 2012. It is estimated to cost ₱1.4 billion. In line with this, DLSU entered an eight-year agreement with the Philippine Sports Commission. Under the contract, DLSU will fund the ₱7.4 million renovation of the Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium. DLSU will get to use the facilities in return.
The DLSU campus which is relatively small in size for its large student population, suffers from limited space. According to The LaSallian, each student had only for himself in 2009. Crowding is expected to only get worse as the university's population has been continuously growing with the growth for 2008–2009 amounting to 27.7 percent. It has also expressed concerns regarding fire safety, citing possible evacuation difficulties should a fire occur at the Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall, and accessibility issues for fire trucks given the lack of wide roads to major buildings. At least three fires have occurred in the campus, including two at St. Joseph Hall. To address the problem of limited space, DLSU has resolved to vertical expansion. However, this has resulted in overcrowded elevators.

Main Campus Map

Laguna

The Laguna campus is an extension of De La Salle University since 2012, and is located in Biñan City, Laguna, Philippines. The 50-hectare campus was built on land donated by the family of the late National Artist for Architecture De La Salle alumnus Leandro Locsin. It was originally known as De La Salle Canlubang, a district school of De La Salle Philippines that provided science and technology-based primary, secondary, and tertiary education. In 2012, the administrations of DLSU and DLSC approved the integration of DLSC into DLSU, becoming the De La Salle University – Science & Technology Complex.
only of the Laguna campus is developed. Under the proposal, DLSU would expand the Colleges of Engineering, Computer Studies, and Science to DLSU-STC due to its location inside the Laguna Technopark. DLSU fears, however, that it might lose some of its students due to the distance of DLSU-STC from Manila. DLSU-STC has two football fields. By 2017, the Laguna campus offered 18 undergraduate degree programs.

Makati Extension

The Makati Extension Campus is an extension campus of DLSU in RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue, Makati City, Philippines. The campus primarily serves the university's graduate business students.

Rufino (Bonifacio Global City)

In September 2013, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority has awarded to De La Salle University the lease and development of a 1,395 square-meter institutional lot in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. DLSU signed a contract with BCDA in October 2013. It is now the DLSU Rufino Campus College of Law provided by the Rufino family.

Former

Ortigas Extension

In 2011, the Ortigas Extension Campus of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business moved from La Salle Green Hills in Mandaluyong City to the Ortigas Business District. The campus is located at the Wynsum Corporate Plaza, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines.

Organization and administration

As a non-stock incorporated entity, DLSU was headed by a 15-person board of trustees in 1992. Presently, 17 members comprise the DLSU Board of Trustees. The DLSU Board of Trustees, currently chaired by Nestor V. Tan, selects the DLSU President. As resolved by the Board of Trustees in June 2010, the president of De La Salle University must be a Lasallian Brother and be a holder of a PhD. Filipino citizenship is not a must but preferred. Prior to the university's move to its present location in 1921, the president was referred to as the director. The president and chancellor, currently Br. Raymundo B. Suplido FSC, and Br. Bernard S. Oca FSC, respectively, are assisted by four vice chancellors. Prior to the reorganization of DLSU in 2007, the chancellor was referred to as the executive vice president. The president may concurrently be the chancellor of the university, as with former President and Chancellor Br. Armin Luistro FSC.
Since its establishment in 1911, De La Salle University has had 23 presidents, with Br. Raymundo B. Suplido FSC serving as the current president. All of them, except Carmelita Quebengco, were male. Two of them had been appointed as secretaries of the Philippine Department of Education, including Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC and Br. Armin Luistro FSC. Meanwhile, Br. Rolando Ramos Dizon FSC also a former DLSU, University of St. La Salle and La Salle Green Hills President, had served as the chairman of Philippine Commission on Higher Education from 2003 to 2004.

Affiliations

De La Salle University is the oldest member of De La Salle Philippines, a network of 16 Lasallian institutions established in 2006. DLSP is the successor of the De La Salle University System, a similar organization.
DLSU is also a member of several international university associations, namely: the ASEAN University Network, Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia, Association of Southeast and East Asian Catholic Colleges and Universities, Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning, International Association of Lasallian Universities, International Association of Universities, International Federation of Catholic Universities, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia and University Cooperation for Internationalisation. The university is also a member of local organizations, including the Philippine Association for Technological Education and the South Manila Inter-Institutional Consortium.
De La Salle Philippines, is a member of a 350-year old international, worldwide network of 1,500 Lasallian educational institutions that provides Christian values-based education. All Lasallian schools are inspired and guided by its founder Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle's charism and spirit of Faith and Zeal. More than a thousand De La Salle schools worldwide educate and teach young minds in 7 continents that are globally established in 82 countries.

Student government

The University Student Government is the highest governing student organization. Under it are College Student Governments and Batch Student Governments for each of DLSU's colleges and student batches, respectively. The Legislative Assembly is the highest policy-making body. Prior to a constitutional change in 2010, the USG was known as the Student Council. Among such changes with the new system is the Judiciary Branch, which was created to ensure the accountability of the elected officers in the University Student Government. Among its activities were prohibiting the use of polystyrene in food packages in food kiosks along Agno St, and raising ₱200,000 for the Achiever Scholar program. It had a total endowment of ₱1,424,790.08 in 2010, including ₱558,000 appropriated by the university.

Colleges

De La Salle University offers 74 undergraduate and over 100 graduate degree programs through its seven colleges and one school. 14 of these are offered as undergraduate double degree programs by the School of Economics. It also offers a degree in mechatronics and robotics, one of the first to offer such in the Philippines.
DLSU received 23,495 undergraduate freshman applications in 2010 and 3,428 of them were admitted. In the same year, it had 11,413 undergraduate and 3,366 graduate students, making a total of 14,779. 704 of these are non-Filipino. 53 percent of the undergraduate students were male while 59 of the graduate students were female. 85 percent of its students come from Metro Manila while almost all reside near the university. In 2011, it had an average of 990 faculty members for the academic year. 69 percent of them held doctorate degrees while 28 had master's degrees.
As of February 2019, the university had 1,285 faculty members. It also received 20,772 undergraduate freshman applications in 2018 and 3,528 were enrolled. DLSU also had 11,527 undergraduate and 5,177 graduate students for a total student population of 16,704.
The College of Liberal Arts and the College of Business, both established in 1918 and 1920 respectively, are the oldest degree-granting unit of the university. The College of Liberal Arts was originally established as the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1982, the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics separated from the Liberal Arts department to formally establish the College of Science as a distinct unit in the university. The College of Business was originally known as the College of Commerce, and later reorganized as the College of Business and Economics until 2010. In 2011, the College of Business was inaugurated as the present-day Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business.
The Br. Andrew Gonzalez College of Education dates back to 1936 when De La Salle College was authorized to confer the degree of Master of Science in Education. It was in 1959 when the college started to offer undergraduate degrees in Education. The Gokongwei College of Engineering was established in 1947 after World War II, and the College of Computer Studies was created in 1981, the same year the university shifted to a trimestral academic calendar.
The College of Law and the School of Economics, both established in 2009 and 2010 respectively, are the newest units of the university. The College of Law was established with initially 90 students. It offers a Juris Doctor degree program with focus on environmental and human rights law. The School of Economics is the product of the reorganization of the now-defunct College of Business and Economics to create two separate entities in the university. The School of Economics formally separated from the College of Business in 2010.

Grading system

Academic performance is rated from 4.0 to 0.0. Grades 4.0 to 1.0 are separated by increments of 0.5 while 0.0 is immediately after 1.0. Students who attain a grade point average of 3.8, 3.6, 3.4 and 3.2 are awarded upon graduation summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude and honorable mention, respectively. Graduation occurs every February, June and October. DLSU had 1,050, 1,114 and 734 candidates for graduation for its June 2010, October 2010 and February 2011 graduations, respectively.

Academic calendar system

DLSU has used the trimestral academic calendar in favor of the traditional semestral calendar since 1981. An academic trimester usually lasts 14 weeks. In contrast, the previous system employed 18-week semesters.

Tuition and financial aid

De La Salle's tuition fee is one of the highest in the Philippines in terms of annual payment and may vary in different colleges within the university. In 2013, tuition per trimester ranged from ₱57,000 for the College of Law to ₱90,000 for the College of Engineering. Meanwhile, the average graduate tuition fee per year in 2009 ranged from US$2,560 for Filipino students to US$2,610 for non-Filipino students.
High school valedictorians and salutatorians of all De La Salle Philippines schools are automatically exempt from paying fees under the Brother Andrew Gonzalez FSC Academic Scholarship. Also, dependents of military personnel who died or became incapacitated during duty enjoy similar benefits through PD 577. Meanwhile, children of faculty and staff, university athletes and performing artists, and senior editors of DLSU student publications are provided tuition fee discounts. Further financial assistance may be provided to students with annual family incomes less than ₱500,000. Aside from these, the Top 100 of the De La Salle College Admission Test are given full scholarship under the Archer Achievers Scholarship Program.

Recognition and reputation

Presently, Quacquarelli Symonds ranks DLSU in the 801-1000 bracket of its World University Rankings and 156th on its Asian University Rankings. Times Higher Education included DLSU as the only Philippine private university in its list of World University Rankings and Asia University Rankings, where it is currently in the 1001+ and 301-350 brackets, respectively. The university has yet to appear in any edition of the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
In March 2020, DLSU was recognized as the country’s most productive research institution based on publications indexed by Scopus. De La Salle University has produced more than 600 Scopus-indexed publications in 2019, which is the highest output on record for any Philippine institution in a single calendar year. DLSU’s publications comprise an estimated 15% of the national research output. By June 2020, DLSU was able to list 4,113 indexed publications on the database, which is the second highest among Philippine higher education institutions or HEIs. Scopus’ most recent citation database stated 2019’s DLSU statistics reached 729, making it still the country’s leading research institution.
In 2010, De La Salle University was identified by the Commission on Higher Education as a "Center of Excellence" in seven disciplines, teacher education, and a "Center of Development" in the field of political science and engineering. The university is also among the 40 institutions granted autonomous status by CHED as of 2010. Autonomous institutions have the privilege to determine their own curriculum, and offer new courses without prior approval from CHED, among others. By 2016, 14 programs have been identified as "Centers of Excellence" and 5 programs have been identified as "Centers of Development". In 2018, De La Salle University ranked third in the university rankings based on "Centers of Excellence" and "Centers of Development" awarded by CHED, after UP Diliman and University of Santo Tomas, and ahead of University of San Carlos and Ateneo de Manila University.
It is the first of the only two institutions granted the highest-level accreditation by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities. In 2011, all of its undergraduate programs that are accredited by PAASCU are designated Level III while graduate programs are designated Level II. As of 2020, 13 programs of DLSU hold a Level IV accreditation status according to the PAASCU website. These are Accountancy, Business, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Electronics Engineering, Elementary Education, Industrial Engineering, Liberal Arts, Mechanical Engineering, Science, and Secondary Education. Meanwhile, the Graduate Programs in Liberal Arts, Science and Education have a Level III accreditation, and the Manufacturing Engineering and Management program has a Level II accreditation. The master’s and doctoral programs in Business Administration are designated Level I.

Libraries and collections

The college library was established in 1956 upon the merger of the high school and college libraries. It was located on the first two floors of St. Joseph Hall with a seating capacity of 100 persons and a collection of almost 10,000 books. Its collection includes 21,218 titles and 33,741 volumes on language and literature as of 2008, 3,751 titles and 4,898 volumes on fine arts and music as of 2006, and 17,999 titles and 26,526 volumes on philosophy and religion as of 2005. A 2001 assessment places its number of periodicals at 14,362 titles. The library has among the highest borrowing limit per person, longest loan period and highest overdue fine. The De La Salle University Learning Commons is presently housed in the 14-storey Henry Sy Sr. Hall – the largest university library building in the Philippines. The Learning Commons is located in the 5th to the 13th floors.
The University Archives grew from its early beginnings in 1973 as the College Archives to a major department/unit in 1989, occupying the fourth floor of the DLSU Library. It holds materials of historical significance to the university, and acts as its "official memory". The Archives now holds not only the theses collection and the university records, but also the special collections, faculty publications, De La Salle publications, LaSalliana collection, and museum artifacts among others. Its museum collection includes over 600 ceramic artifacts from Southeast Asia dating back as early as 200 BC, almost 400 specimens of rare Philippine banknotes and coins, over 200 artworks. In addition, it has 298 volumes of film scripts, 766 audio tapes, 66 video tapes, 1,205 volumes on health and nutrition, and 1,050 books and journals on neurology and related disciplines, among others. Several of these collections were donations previously owned by various notable Lasallians, including Senator Jose Diokno, Don Francisco Ortigas Jr., José Javier Reyes, and Senator Lorenzo Tañada.
The Museum is the university's collection of Philippine modern art donated by the heirs of Doreen Fernandez, a food critic. The collection comprises more than 400 works by several artists, including ten National Artists of the Philippines.

Research

The De La Salle University Science Foundation serves as DLSU's repository of research funding providing research grants to faculty, and scholarship grants to students. Registered in April 1998, its total assets were worth over ₱8.5 billion in 2008. 120 of DLSU faculty had been involved in 80 research projects between March 2008 and February 2009. 39 of its faculty had their research published in ISI-listed journals in 2008.
Since 2000, DLSU has been the Commission on Higher Education Zonal Research Center for the 59 colleges and universities located in Las Piñas, Makati, Manila, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Pateros, Taguig and San Juan. Its functions include evaluation of research proposals for recommendation for CHED funding and monitoring of CHED-funded researches, among others.
The College of Computer Studies Center for Empathic Human-Computer Interactions specializes in affective computing, a study that seeks to create machines capable of reacting to human emotions. The center is funded by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology. Emotion recognition, behavior prediction and the influence of music to emotion are among the center's research, many of which are in collaboration with Osaka University. The center, also in collaboration with Osaka, is the first one that constructed an empathic computing space in the Philippines.
The Center for Micro-Hydro Technology for Rural Electrification of the College of Engineering, established in 2002 through Japan International Cooperation Agency funds, is engaged in designing micro hydro generators. The center, in coordination with the Philippine Department of Energy, has been involved in the electrification of remote areas using micro hydro installations.
Both of the only two solar cars, SINAG and SIKAT, of the Philippines were made by DLSU engineering faculty and students. SINAG participated in the 2007 World Solar Challenge, and finished 12th among 40 entries. SIKAT will participate in the 2011 competition. The project is funded by several private companies, including Ford Philippines, Pilipinas Shell, Philippine Airlines and San Miguel Corporation.
The College of Engineering is among the 18 "National Research Institutions" of the Asian Regional Research Programme on Environmental Technology, a project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and coordinated by the Asian Institute of Technology that seeks to assess environmental degradation in Asia. The college has also conducted research on biodiesel from the pili nut and winged bean, and sustainable technology.
In 2020, De La Salle University captured the attention of British diplomats and scientists with its research on converting wastewater or toilet sludge into nutrient-rich fertilizer. The study aims to find a sustainable alternative to importing phosphates as fertilizer for farms in the Philippines. The research project won ₱13 million from the Newton Fund of the U.K. government.
The University's I-Nano facility has initiated a project on developing a Thermal Mechanical Garment made from Abaca fiber. This is officially funded by the DOST and to be collaborated alongside the Technological University of the Philippines, FEATI University, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, and the Philippine Textile Research Institute. The study aims to fabricate a layered structure of fabric out of Abaca fibers coated by a nanocomposite material for electromagnetic interference shielding and thermal resistance.

Student life

As of 2010, the Council of Student Organizations, a union of DLSU-accredited student organizations, had 39 members. Founded in 1974, the council oversees implementation of university-wide activities, such as annual freshmen welcoming.
The LaSallian and Ang Pahayagang Plaridel are the official student newspapers of the university. The two, written in English and Filipino respectively, are among the four periodicals managed by the Student Media Office. Other student media groups managed by the Student Media Office include the Malate Literary Portfolio, Green & White, Green Giant FM, and Archers Network.

Performing arts

The De La Salle University Chorale is "the premiere chorale group in the university." Since its establishment in 1987, it has won several awards from different international choir competitions, including the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 1992 and 2010 for the chamber and folk music, and the grand prize in the Tampere Vocal Music Festival in 1995, among others.
The La Salle Dance Company – Street is the first champion of the UAAP Street Dance Competition, an annual event organized by the University Athletic Association of the Philippines since it was first introduced in the second semester of UAAP Season 73 in 2011. They have won the most number of titles in the seniors' division of the UAAP Street Dance Competition with four championships. They also represent the country as frequent finalists in the World Hip Hop Dance Championships. Other groups in the company specialize in contemporary and folk.
Established around 1966, the Harlequin Theatre Guild is the official theater organization of DLSU. It has performed plays written by Palanca Awards laureates, including Unang Ulan ng Mayo by John Iremil Teodoro, which was staged for the fourth time in December 2011 in line with the LGBT month of Metro Manila and Rizal is My President: 40 Leadership Tips from Jose Rizal by Joshua So based on the book written by Napoleon G. Almonte and
staged during the May 2009 Presidential Elections. Other notable organizations include the De La Salle Innersoul, Green Media Group, and Lasallian Youth Orchestra.

Sports tradition

De La Salle has several varsity teams and sport clubs participating in different sports competitions, most notably basketball, volleyball, football and cheerleading. The university was a founding member in 1924 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, in which it won five General Championships until La Salle withdrew from the league in 1981. Br. John Lynam FSC, established the first De La Salle basketball team. In 1924, he was one of the organizers of the pre-war National Collegiate Athletic Association as the first and oldest collegiate athletic association in the Philippines composed of De La Salle, San Beda, Ateneo, Letran, UP, UST, FEU, NU and UM. In 1986, De La Salle University was admitted into the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, an intercollegiate sporting association formed in 1938. Ever since joining the UAAP in 1986, DLSU has won three UAAP General Championships – Season 75, Season 76, and Season 78, giving the university a combined eight General Championship titles in the seniors' division in the NCAA and UAAP.
The DLSU Animo Squad was originally known in its pre-war NCAA years as Br. John Lynam's 1924 LaS Rah! Rah! Boys, then in 1926 as the LSC Yell Commanders. The DLSC Squad was the first and oldest Collegiate Coed Spirit Team in the Philippines. It was renamed decades later on as the post-war DLSC Cheerleading Squad, then in the 1980s as the DLSU Pep Squad until 2008, when it was renamed by Br. Bernard Oca FSC, as the present DLSU Animo Squad. The DLSU Green & White Spirit Team has since then won five cheer dance podium finishes in the span of its UAAP participation, in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2011 and 2013. The original Lasallian cheerleading spirit team was formally established in 1924 to 1926 with four LaS Rah! Rah! Boys / LSC Yell Command pioneers. Br. John Lynam's pre-war LaS Rah! Rah! Boys, as well his LSC and DLSC Yell Commanders up to Br. Bernard Oca's present DLSU Animo Squad has been continuously cheerleading for years.
The first members of the LaS, LSC and DLSC cheerleading squad were all male until the inclusion of female cheerleaders in the early 1970s. The DLSC cheerleading squad was the first spirit team in the NCAA and the UAAP to have female cheerleaders. The first female DLSC cheerleaders were cross-enrollees from St. Scholastica's College, Manila before De La Salle College turned co-educational in 1973. During De La Salle's pre-war years in the old NCAA, Lasallites enjoyed singing several battle songs such as "Men of La Salle!, "On Into The Fight - Green Archer Song", "Cheer! Cheer! For O'l De La Salle" and several more.
In 1941, the DLSC Green & White yearbook featured a vintage black and white photo of four elementary school boys who proudly wore their Green Archer costumes that formed the first Green Archer Grade School boys mascot cheerleading squad. The tradition of singing Br. Stephen Malachy and Br. Bonaventure Richard's "Hail to De La Salle" Alma Mater Song after every Lasallian gathering, event and varsity game while doing the defiant raised, clenched fist "HAIL!, HAIL!, HAIL!" salute has been performed since 1964. This famous Lasallian tradition was defiantly initiated by the DLSC cheerleading squad during the final buzzer of the Green Archers' only winless 1965 NCAA basketball season. At that historical moment, the DLSC Yell Command proudly showcased the indestructible "Invictus La Salle!" school spirit. De La Salle started the tradition of proudly singing the De La Salle Alma Mater Song at the end of all its then-NCAA matches which were later followed by other rival universities and colleges in the NCAA and UAAP.

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Notable alumni from the high school and college of De La Salle include:
Honorary degrees were conferred to the following Individuals: