De La Salle University

De La Salle University (Filipino: Pamantasang De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools with main campus in Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines. It was established by the Christian Brothers in 1911 as De La Salle College (DLSC) in Nozaleda Street, Paco, Manila with Blimond Pierre Eilenbecker, FSC serving as director, and is the first De La Salle school in the Philippines. The college was granted university status on February 19, 1975, and is the oldest constituent of De La Salle Philippines (DLSP), a network of 16 educational institutions, established in 2006 replacing the De La Salle University System.
The institution started as an exclusive all-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. De La Salle University is widely regarded as one of the leading universities in the Philippines, offering over a hundred coeducational undergraduate and graduate degree programs through its seven colleges and one school specializing in the disciplines of business, computer studies, economics, education, engineering, law, liberal arts, and science. The patron of the university is St. John Baptist de La Salle, the Vatican's patron saint for those who work in education. He was the founder of the De La Salle Christian Brothers and a network of over 1,100 Lasallian educational institutions in 80 countries.
De La Salle University has been cited by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a Center of Excellence in 14 of its programs, and a Center of Development in 5. The university is among 40 institutions granted autonomous status by CHED as of 2010. It is the first of only two institutions granted the highest-level accreditation (Level IV) by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). The university is a member of the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and International Association of Universities (IAU) as well as the local South Manila Inter-Institutional Consortium.
The Philippines was one of the last Southeast Asian countries in which the De La Salle Christian Brothers established themselves. The De La Salle Christian Brothers had established several De La Salle schools in British and French Southeast Asian colonial territories a century before settling in the new American colony. Initially, the De La Salle Brothers were reluctant in establishing a school in the Philippines due to the Americans' insistence that the first school should only educate the children of the ruling Filipino elite. The Americans instructed the Christian Brothers to Americanize future Filipino leaders through their Catholic Lasallian education. The American demand ran contrary to the original spiritual teachings and charism of St. John Baptist de La Salle, the Vatican's patron saint of Christian educators whose main religious vocation was to "Teach Minds, Touch Hearts and Transform Lives" while providing tuition-free education to the poor. The De La Salle Christian Brothers eventually agreed to establish a school in Manila, conceding that the "upper-class children of the ruling elite families also needed good Catholic moral and spiritual training."
De La Salle University traces its founding roots to Manila Archbishop Jeremiah James Harty. Harty, an alumnus of a Christian Brother–Lasallian school in St. Louis, Missouri, believed that the establishment of a De La Salle school in Manila would be instrumental in preempting the spread of Protestantism in the Philippines through the arrival of the Thomasites and American Protestant church missions. His request was endorsed in 1907 by Pope Pius X. An envoy of the De La Salle Christian Brothers arrived in 1910. Together with Manila Archbishop Harty, the Christian Brothers searched for a suitable campus location. A 13,000-square-meter (140,000 sq ft) property in Nozaleda Street, Paco, Manila was purchased for this purpose.
De La Salle College was established by nine De La Salle Christian Brothers. Three, Blimond Pierre Eilenbecker, Aloysius Gonzaga McGiverin and Augusto Correge, arrived on March 10, 1911, and the remaining six, Ptolomee Louis Duffaux, Goslin Camillus Henri, D. Joseph, Celba John Lynam, Imar William Reale, and Martin, on May 13. De La Salle College formally opened on June 16, 1911, with 125 students. By July 10, the number of students reached 175.
On February 12, 1912, the college was incorporated under the sole ownership of the college director, Br. Eilenbecker. In March 1912, four more Brothers arrived, Wilfrid, Basilian Coin, Dorotheus Joseph and Egbert Xavier Kelly. The college was permitted to confer high school diplomas in the same year. 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. Brothers Donatian Felix, V. Andrew, Albinus Peter, Flavius Leo, Alphonsus Henry, Felix and David King were sent to the school to teach various subjects from 1917 to 1929.
The college had 425 students by 1921. Due to the lack of space on the original Nozaleda Campus in Paco, Manila, it moved to 2401 Taft Avenue in Malate, its present location. Brother Acisclus Michael, FSC was able to secure a 30,300-square-meter (326,000 sq ft) lot at the southernmost boundary of 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.
During the Second World War, the American De La Salle Christian Brothers were interred in the Japanese Los Baños Internment Camp for the duration of the three-year Japanese occupation of the Philippines while the other non-American Brothers were allowed to stay on and continue to teach at the Taft Campus.
Initially, the De La Salle campus served as a secret shelter for several displaced civilians, nearby families, wounded soldiers, and some Filipino guerilla freedom fighters at the beginning of the Japanese occupation. However, it was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army and made into military defense quarters on January 2, 1942. Several bombings severely damaged the DLSC campus. Despite this, classes continued during the Japanese occupation. During this time, several Lasallians set their sports rivalries aside to share their De La Salle College classrooms together with students from various neighboring schools in and around Manila. The DLSC high school classes were later transferred to its neighbor St. Scholastica's College, Manila in 1943.
Classes were eventually discontinued at the De La Salle campus by the end of 1944. On February 1, 1945 as the war was coming to a close, retreating 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 believed to have been tortured and killed. On February 12 shortly after noon, 20 Japanese soldiers forcibly entered the DLSC campus and massacred 16 of the 17 De La Salle Brothers residing in the chapel of the campus, along with 25 other residents. Only one Brother (Antonius von Jesus) and 21 others survived.
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, which was then a part of Rizal province.
The College of Commerce, 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 school continued to undergo changes even as the nation went through the difficulties of the Marcos dictatorship era. It became co-educational in 1973. On February 19, 1975, De La Salle College was granted university status and became known as De La Salle University (DLSU). Since 2008, it has referred to itself as De La Salle University, its registered name in the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. The Grade School Department was deprecated in 1978.
In 1981, De La Salle University shifted from the traditional semestral academic calendar to a trimestral one. Prior to this, students were referred to as Lasallites, but this was replaced with Lasallian, the present term.
In comparison to other schools in the capital, where massive protests were typical, the De La Salle campus was relatively quiet during the First Quarter Storm and Martial Law years. However, there were some constituents who were active in the resistance against the Marcos dictatorship, even in its early years. At one point, soldiers went into the campus hunting for student activist (and later La Sallian editor in chief) William Chua, who was forced to hide in the trunk of a sympathetic faculty member's car. Outside of the campus, a number of alumni actively resisted the regime, such as prominent businessman and De La Salle high school alumnus Alfonso Yuchengco, who became an important part of the Light-A-Fire Movement.
The broader student population became more active in protests against the authoritarian regime in 1983, becoming part of what was called the "middle force opposition" that grew across the nation after the Assassination of Ninoy Aquino. A particular leader during this time was Immanuel “Imo” Obispo, a student activist who was a junior when he was killed under mysterious circumstances in October 1984.
Chua, Yuchengco, and Obispo are all honored at the Philippines' Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial, which honors the martyrs and heroes of the resistance against the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos.
In 1987, the university, together with four other Lasallian institutions, became part of the De La Salle University System. The system was later dissolved in favor of De La Salle Philippines, a network of 16 Lasallian institutions. De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde (DLS–CSB) became independent of the university in 1988.
A 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, 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 integrated with De La Salle University and became an extension of DLSU. It was inaugurated as the De La Salle University – Science & Technology Complex (DLSU–STC), and later renamed as the De La Salle University – Laguna Campus. 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 (SHS) classes officially opened on June 1, 2016. In December 2018, DLSU announced its plan to launch a new Learning Management System (LMS) called AnimoSpace, built based on the Canvas LMS software. AnimoSpace was officially launched on January 15, 2019.
The main campus is situated on a 5.45-hectare (13.5-acre) lot at 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila. It is part of the University Belt with several other colleges and universities, including St. Scholastica's College, Manila and Philippine Women's University, which are both located nearby. Some buildings that are part of the campus are also situated at other nearby lots along Taft Avenue and at the nearby Fidel Reyes Street, formerly named as Agno Street.
The buildings have a combined floor area of 136,685.98 m (1,471,275.6 sq ft). Six of the DLSU Manila campus buildings – Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall, Don Enrique T. Yuchengco Hall, Enrique M. Razon Sports Center, Gokongwei Hall, Henry Sy Sr. Hall, and Velasco Hall – were funded and provided by DLSU alumni. Most of the buildings in the DLSU campus feature neoclassical design. These include:
The campus will also open the following facilities as part of its ongoing development:
The DLSU–Manila campus, which is relatively small in size for its large student population suffers from limited space. According to The LaSallian, each student had only 7.1 m (76 sq ft) for himself in 2009. Crowding is expected to only get worse. 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.
The Laguna campus is an extension of De La Salle University since 2012 and is located adjacent to Laguna Technopark in Biñan, Laguna, Philippines. The 50-hectare (120-acre) campus was built on land donated by the family of the late National Artist for Architecture and De La Salle alumnus Leandro Locsin. It was originally known as De La Salle Canlubang (DLSC), 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 (DLSU–STC), and later renamed as the De La Salle University – Laguna Campus. By 2010, 6,000 m (65,000 sq ft) of the campus had been developed. The Laguna campus offered 18 undergraduate degree programs by 2017, as well as pre-school, primary, and secondary education at the DLSU Integrated School (DLSU IS). Its college division is called the School of Innovation and Sustainability.
In 2016, DLSU signed an agreement with Ubisoft to open a new studio in the Philippines and to offer two new undergraduate courses in game development, as well as entertainment and multimedia computing. The Laguna campus was selected as the site of the studio. The studio opened two years later in 2018, and is the first AAA game studio in the country. However, Ubisoft Philippines transferred its office to Bonifacio Global City in 2024 to address staffing challenges caused by its remote location.
Laguna campus has inner roads named after notable Lasallian brothers and saints in the university's history. The facilities in the campus include:
Courtyard Hall, a student dormitory managed by Arthaland Corporation on its property next to the DLSU Laguna Campus, is also considered part of the campus.
The campus will also open the following facility as part of its ongoing development:
The Rufino Campus is an extension of De La Salle University in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, that serves as the College of Law building. Donated by the Rufino family, the campus consists of a seven-story green building that houses 17 classrooms, an auditorium, an arbitration room, and a moot court.
In September 2013, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) awarded to DLSU the lease and development of a 1,395-square-meter (15,020 sq ft) institutional building on a slightly larger lot in Bonifacio Global City. DLSU signed a contract with the BCDA in October 2013. It was inaugurated on February 18, 2017.
The Makati Extension Campus (MEC) is an extension campus of DLSU at the 5th floor of the Alfonso Yuchengco-owned RCBC Plaza in Makati City, Philippines. The campus primarily serves the university's graduate business students.
The Lian campus, known as the De La Salle University – Br. Alfred Shields Ocean Research (SHORE) Center Marine Station (formerly the DLSU Marine Biological Station), is a research facility and an extension of DLSU on a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) parcel of land in Sitio Matuod, Barangay Binubusan, Lian, Batangas. It is an academic facility of the College of Science for further class field activities, research and extension activities and as a base for teaching, research, and extension activities in coastal areas. The SHORE Center was established in May 2013 upon approval by Br. Ricardo Laguda FSC, then president and chancellor of DLSU, to which the existing Marine Station would be attached. The SHORE Center is headquartered at Henry Sy Sr. Hall of the Manila campus.
As a non-stock incorporated entity, DLSU is governed by an independent 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 the Provost 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 24 presidents (10 Filipinos, six Americans, six Irishmen, and two Frenchmen), with Br. Bernard S. Oca, FSC serving as the current president. He started his term on August 1, 2021. 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 (1998–2001) and Br. Armin Luistro, FSC (2010–2016). 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. Bro. Luistro became the first Superior-General of the De La Salle Brothers worldwide on May 18, 2022.
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. De La Salle Philippines is a member of an international, worldwide network of Lasallian educational institutions. Presently, the Lasallian order consists of over 3,000 Christian Brothers, who together with 90,000 teachers and Lay associates help run and manage over 1,100 educational institutions established globally in 80 countries with over a million students worldwide.
De La Salle University is also a member of several notable international university associations such as 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 University offers over a hundred undergraduate and graduate degree programs through its seven colleges and one school. It also offers a degree in mechatronics and robotics, one of the first to offer such in the Philippines. As of 2025, DLSU operates 15 research centers and institutes.
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, with 704 of these being non-Filipino. Fifty-three percent of the undergraduate students were male while 59 of the graduate students were female. Eighty-five 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. Sixty-nine percent of them held doctorate degrees while 28 had master's degrees. As of Academic Year 2021–22, the university had 1,500 faculty members. It also received 19,488 undergraduate freshman applications and 7,397 were enrolled. DLSU also had 18,821 undergraduate and 4,289 graduate students for a total student population of 23,110.
The College of Liberal Arts and the College of Business, both established in 1918 and 1920 respectively, are the oldest degree-granting units 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 2010, are the newest units of the university. The College of Law was established by Founding Dean Chel Diokno. It offers a Juris Doctor degree program with focus on environmental and human rights law. On February 26, 2022, it was renamed as the Tañada-Diokno College of 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.
Academic performance is rated from 4.0 (excellent) to 0.0 (fail). 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.
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. As of Term 2, 2021, the price-per-unit for 6 colleges (RVR-COB, CLA, GCOE, SOE, COS, CCS) is ₱3,604.00 with the only exception being the Br. Andrew Gonzalez College of Education with ₱3,021.00. Total cost of studies per year in DLSU may range from, on average, ₱205,000 to ₱225,000.
DLSU offers multiple scholarship and financial aid programs in both the undergraduate and the graduate levels. High school valedictorians and salutatorians of all De La Salle Philippines schools are automatically exempted from paying fees under the Br. Andrew Gonzalez Academic Scholarship program. 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 (US$11,600). Aside from these, the Top 100 of the De La Salle College Admission Test (DCAT) are given full scholarship under the Archer Achiever Scholarship program.
De La Salle University is considered as one of the most prestigious universities in the Philippines. As of 2025, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranks DLSU in the 641–650 bracket of its World University Rankings and 163rd on its Asian University Rankings. DLSU has appeared on the QS rankings since 2005. Times Higher Education (THE) 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 was the only private university from the Philippines to be included at the time. De La Salle University also made its debut appearance on the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings in 2019, where it was placed in the 251–300 bracket. As of 2025, DLSU is placed in the 1501+ and 501–600 brackets, respectively.
As of 2025, De La Salle University is ranked first in the Philippines by the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, ahead of University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, and University of Santo Tomas. The university also ranks second in the list of top 12 universities in the Philippines by the SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR), after University of the Philippines Diliman, and ahead of University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines Los Baños. DLSU is also ranked second by EduRank in its list of 100 best universities in the Philippines, after University of the Philippines Diliman, and ahead of Ateneo de Manila University and University of Santo Tomas. The university has yet to appear in any edition of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).
In 2010, De La Salle University was identified by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a Center of Excellence in seven disciplines (namely biology, chemistry, Filipino, information technology, literature, mathematics, physics), teacher education, and a Center of Development in the field of political science and engineering (namely chemical engineering, civil engineering, industrial engineering, electronics and communications engineering, computer engineering and mechanical 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 University of the Philippines 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 (the other being Ateneo de Manila University) granted the highest-level accreditation (Level IV) by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). 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 2025, 11 programs of DLSU hold a Level IV accreditation status according to the PAASCU website. These are Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Electronics Engineering, Elementary Education, Industrial Engineering, Liberal Arts, Mechanical Engineering, Sciences, and Secondary Education. Programs with a Level III accreditation status are Accountancy, Business, Entrepreneurship, and the Graduate Programs in Liberal Arts, Science and Education. Meanwhile, the Manufacturing Engineering Management program as well as the master's and doctoral programs in Business Administration are designated Level II.
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 (30 books), longest loan period (14 days) and highest overdue fine (₱20 per day; US$0.46 per day). The De La Salle University Library, now called the Learning Commons, is presently housed in the 14-story Henry Sy Sr. Hall – the largest university library building in the Philippines. The Learning Commons occupy the 5th to the 13th floors. The Henry Sy Sr. Hall has almost four hectares of floor space. Aside from the Learning Commons, DLSU also has satellite libraries such as the Br. Benedict Learning Resource Center, located at the 18th floor of Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall; the Business Library at Makati Campus; the Law Library at Rufino Campus; and three libraries for pre-school, Integrated School and college levels, respectively, at Laguna Campus.
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 (many of which were lost during the Second World War), and acts as its "official memory". The Archives now holds not only the theses collection and the university records, but also the special collections (consisting of books as well as non-book materials, manuscripts and personal papers), 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 videotapes, 1,205 volumes on health and nutrition, and 1,050 books and journals on neurology and related disciplines, among others. Several of these collections are donations previously owned by various notable Lasallites, including lawyer and Senator José W. 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 (namely Fernando Amorsolo, Benedicto Cabrera, Botong Francisco, José T. Joya, Ang Kiukok, Cesar Legaspi, Arturo R. Luz, Vicente Manansala, Jeremias Elizalde Navarro and Hernando R. Ocampo).
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 (US$197 million) in 2008. 120 (20 percent) of DLSU faculty had been involved in 80 research projects between March 2008 and February 2009. 39 (12 percent) 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 (including laughter 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 (Tagalog for light beam) and SIKAT (brilliance), 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 (which has more advanced solar cells, a more aerodynamic body, and 100 kg less weight) 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, the university's I-Nano facility initiated a project on developing a Thermal Mechanical Garment (outer layer of a space suit) 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. In the same year, the university also won £200,000 (₱13.2 million) from the Newton Fund of the UK government for its research on the conversion of wastewater into nutrient-rich fertilizer for farming improvement.
Based on Scopus-indexed papers, De La Salle University was named the country's most productive research university in March 2020. In 2019, DLSU published over 600 Scopus-indexed publications, the most by any Philippine institution in a single calendar year. DLSU's publications account for almost 15% of the nation's research output. DLSU had 4,113 indexed publications in the database by June 2020, which was the second-highest number among Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs). According to Scopus' most recent citation database, DLSU's 2019 statistics were 729, keeping it as the country's top research institution. In September 2024, a student from the university won the 2024 James Dyson Award in the Philippines for his underground monitoring system that provides real-time video feeds of the Earth's subsurface.
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 (first published in 1960) and Ang Pahayagang Plaridel (Tagalog for The Plaridel Newspaper; first published in 1984) 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.
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 (Tagalog for First Rainfall of May) 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.
De La Salle has several varsity teams and sport clubs participating in different sports competitions, most notably basketball, volleyball, football and cheerleading. In 1924, De La Salle College (DLSC) became a pre-war founding member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), in which it won five General Championships (1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, and 1980–81) until La Salle announced its decision to withdraw from the league in September 1980. Irish-American Br. Celba John Lynam, FSC organized the first De La Salle sports teams and the first La Salle & LSC Yell Command Spirit Team. In 1924, he established the pre-war NCAA as the first and oldest collegiate athletic association in the Philippines composed of De La Salle, San Beda, Ateneo de Manila, University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, Institute of Accounts (now as Far Eastern University), National University, and University of Manila. In 1986, De La Salle University was admitted into the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), an intercollegiate sporting association formed in 1938. Ever since joining the UAAP in 1986, DLSU has won three UAAP General Championships – Season 75 (2012–13), Season 76 (2013–14), and Season 78 (2015–16), giving the university a combined eight General Championship titles in the seniors' division in the NCAA and UAAP. Notable Lasallian athletes and alumni are inducted into the De La Salle Alumni Association (DLSAA) Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1961, Br. Stephen Malachy, FSC took out a small harmonica during a class and shared a song that he and Br. Bonaventure Richard, FSC had recently composed to his students. The melody originated in San Joaquin Memorial High School (a Christian Brother school), in Fresno, California where Br. Malachy was assigned as a lyricist in the 1950s. The words were modified but the tune is the same. The song was first sung during a graduation in 1964. It was later adopted by the NCAA basketball team and cheerleaders in 1965 when La Salle lost to Mapua Tech, but the Lasallites stayed to sing the song, "Alma Mater Hymn" at the end of the game. The song eventually became the alma mater theme of De La Salle College and other Lasallian institutions in the Philippines. The hymn is sung by students and alumni at the end of all La Salle gatherings with the gesture of continuously raising a clenched fist into the air. The De La Salle Alma Mater Song has since the 1960s been sung traditionally by all Lasallians in every Lasallian sports, alumni and school event in all 16 La Salle schools in the Philippines. De La Salle was the first school in any Philippine collegiate league to sing its Alma Mater Song after the end of each La Salle match in the NCAA – a practice now done by all schools in the NCAA and the UAAP.
Animo is the traditional Lasallian word for "Spirit to Fight" and it is also known as the "La Salle Spirit". Animo La Salle, the school battle cry, was derived from the Lasallian spirit of "Faith & Zeal" of St. John Baptist de La Salle and his Christian Brothers. The Lasallian spirit of "Faith" is symbolized by a radiant Signum Fidei Christmas Nativity Star of Bethlehem. The Lasallian spirit of "Zeal" on the other hand, is symbolized by three broken chevrons that represent the three broken leg bones suffered by Warrior Chieftain Johan Salla of Atphonus the Chaste, king of Oviedo Spain, who was the great-grandfather of Saint La Salle who fought several battles to defend Christian Spain from invading Eastern Moorish armies. The ancient broken chevrons can be seen on the 1000-year-old royal coat of arms of the De La Salle family. The coat of arms contains the Latin motto Indivisa Manent which translates to being "Permanently Indivisible". This ancient motto of the De La Salle family was carried over and presently translated into the modern tagline of De La Salle Philippines as "One La Salle".