Central Philippine University

Central Philippine University (also known as Central or CPU) is a private Protestant research university in Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1905 through a grant from the American industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, as the Jaro Industrial School and Bible School under the supervision of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, it is "the first Baptist and the second American and Protestant-founded university in the Philippines and in Asia".

The university pioneered nursing education in the Philippines through the establishment of the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses (now CPU College of Nursing) in 1906, the first nursing school in the Philippines. It also established the first student government in Southeast Asia, the CPU Republic (1906); the first government-recognized agricultural school outside of Luzon, the CPU College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences; the first Baptist and second Protestant theological seminary in the country, the CPU College of Theology (1905), and the first Protestant and American hospital in the Philippines, the CPU–Iloilo Mission Hospital (1901).

The university has been granted full autonomy status by the Commission on Higher Education (Philippines), the same government agency that recognized its academic programs as National Centers of Excellence in Agriculture and Business Administration, and as National Centers of Development in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, and Teacher Education. It is also an ISO Certified Institution.

Central has been recognized globally, ranking among the top universities in the Philippines and worldwide by two notable international university ranking agencies, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE). It has also been ranked by the World University Ranking for Innovations. In addition, AppliedHE has recognized Central as one of the top private universities in Southeast Asia.

CPU's main campus is a Registered Cultural Property by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and a Marked Historical Site by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. The Hinilawod Epic Chant Recordings, housed at the university's Henry Luce III Library, has been inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

At present, the university is consist of eighteen schools and colleges offering academic programs from basic education up to baccalaureate and graduate studies. In tertiary education level, it offers courses in Agriculture and Environmental Sciencess, Accounting and Business Administration, Biology and Chemistry, Computer Studies, Engineering, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Law, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Library Science, Mass Communication, Medical Laboratory Science, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Political Science, Public Administration, Psychology, Teacher Education, and Theology.

The university administers the Fortress College in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental and maintains overseas academic programs with Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA) in Vietnam.

Central's alumni include Filipino senators, congressmen, and legal luminaries; National Artists of the Philippines; laureates of notable awards like Ramon Magsaysay Award and Rolex Award for Enterprise; presidential cabinet members, military officials; provincial governors and city mayors; and business tycoons.