University of the Philippines Los Baños
Public research university located in Laguna, Philippines
The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UP Los Baños or UPLB; Filipino: Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Los Baños) is a public university and a constituent university of the University of the Philippines System, primarily located in Los Baños, Laguna. Founded by law in 1908 and established as the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA) in 1909, it is one of the founding campuses of the UP System and has been an early center for agricultural education and research in Southeast Asia.
UPLB was reorganized in 1972 as the first autonomous constituent university of the UP System and has since developed into a multidisciplinary institution offering 171 degree programs across the life and physical sciences, engineering, social sciences, and the arts.
It is the largest campus in the UP System and in the country by land area, managing the Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, a designated ASEAN Heritage Park. It also operates units outside Los Baños, including the UP Rural High School in Bay, Laguna, and the UP Professional School for Agriculture and the Environment in Davao del Norte
The university comprises nine colleges and two schools, with nine of its academic programs recognized by the Commission on Higher Education as Centers of Excellence.
UPLB hosts several local and international research centers, including the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
History
Early History (1908-1930s)
UPLB was originally established as the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA) on March 6, 1909, by the UP Board of Regents to promote agricultural education and research in the Philippines. Edwin Copeland, an American botanist and Thomasite from the Philippine Normal College in Manila, was its first dean. Classes began in June 1909 with five professors while 12 students initially enrolled in the program. UPCA was the first college to be organized in UP following the enactment of the University Act of 1908.
The public source identifies “University of the Philippines Los Baños” as public research university located in Laguna, Philippines. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around University, Philippines and Baños.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3550116. VIAF identifies the subject as 132514637. The Library of Congress control number is n79129319. Authority coordinates are 14.165, 121.242. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1908, 1909 and 1972.
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This entry incorporates text from “University of the Philippines Los Baños” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.