Central Philippine University

Central Philippine University (also known as Central or CPU) is a private research university located in Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1905 through the benevolent grant of 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 second-American founded university in the Philippines and Asia.

CPU played a pioneering role in nursing education in the Philippines by establishing the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1906, which later became the Central Philippine University - College of Nursing, the first nursing school in the Philippines. Additionally, the university was the first to establish a Baptist theological seminary in the country, the CPU College of Theology; the first student council in Southeast Asia, the CPU Republic; and the first government-recognized agricultural school outside of Luzon, the CPU College of Agriculture, Resources, and Environmental Sciences.

CPU–Iloilo Mission Hospital, the university's hospital which was established by the Presbyterian missionary doctor, Joseph Andrew Hall in 1901, is the first American and Protestant hospital in the Philippines. It is also the first healthcare institution for the constabulary and soldiers during the American regime in the country.

CPU has been granted full autonomy status by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the same Philippine government agency that designated some of its programs as National Centers of Development and Excellence. The university has also been distinguished as an ISO Certified institution, while its main campus is recognized as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and as a registered cultural property by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts.

Quacquarelli Symonds and Times Higher Education, two world-renowned and influential university ranking bodies, have ranked Central as one of the top Asian and global universities.

The university consists of eighteen schools and colleges that offer instruction from basic education to post-graduate levels. Its undergraduate programs includes disciplines in Agriculture, Resources, and Environmental Sciences; Arts and Sciences; Business and Accountancy; Computer Studies; Education; Engineering; Health, Fitness, and Lifestyle Management; Hospitality and Tourism Management; Library Science; Mass Communications; Medical Laboratory Science; Nursing; Pharmacy; Political Science; Psychology; Respiratory Therapy; Social Work; and Theology. At the graduate level, CPU offers programs in Law, Medicine, and Graduate Studies.

Although founded by the American Baptists and regarded as a Protestant university, CPU is a non-sectarian and independent institution. It historically maintains an affiliation with Silliman University as its sister school.

Central's alumni include prominent politicians, National Artists of the Philippines, Fulbright scholars and professors, scientists and inventors, recipients of prestigious awards like the Ramon Magsaysay Award, senators and legislators, cabinet members, judges, foreign diplomats, military personnel, provincial governors and city mayors, writers and journalists, film directors and actors, singers, and successful business leaders.