SM Group to double NU campuses to 20

The SM Group is targeting to nearly double the current number of National University (NU) campuses by 2028 in an effort to provide quality, accessible and affordable education to young Filipinos nationwide.

- RICHMOND MERCURIO

The Sy family’s investment holding firm SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) said NU is embarking on an ambitious expansion strategy which aims to establish 20 campuses across the Philippines by 2028, from 11 to date.

SM acquired majority ownership of NU in 2008 when it was struggling to get enrollees since the 1998 fire that razed the main building of the Sampaloc-based university.

SMIC said the year before the partnership with the group, NU’s student population was only at 1,800. The school now has 55,000 students and plans to boost this population to 100,000 by 2027.