| Post: | President |
| Body: | the University of San Carlos |
| Incumbent: | Francisco Antonio T. Estepa |
| Incumbentsince: | August 1, 2023 |
| Appointer: | USC Board of Trustees |
| Termlength: | 3 years |
| Formation: | 1964 |
| Precursor: | Rector |
| First: | Rudolph Rahmann |
| Style: | The Very Reverend |
| Termlength Qualified: | No restriction on renewal |
The President of the University of San Carlos is the head administrator and chief academic officer of the University of San Carlos, elected by the University's ten-member Board of Trustees. As the CEO, the president appoints other officials including the vice presidents, chaplain, deans, registrar, principals, etc.[1] Presidents generally serve three-year terms, and are qualified for re-election indefinitely.
The current president of the University is San Carlos is Fr. Francisco Antonio T. Estepa, SVD.[2]
The Office of the President of the University of San Carlos traces in roots in the office of the Rector of the Real Seminario de San Carlos, which was founded in 1783 by Bishop Mateo Joaquin Rubio de Arevalo of the Diocese of Cebu. Despite the founding of the Seminary in 1783, there were no permanent faculty members during the first few years of its operation, as hardly anyone was trained for seminary administration and theological teaching. In 1825, the Seminary's first rector, Fr. José Morales del Rosario, was appointed by Bishop Francisco Genoves, and was followed by a series of secular rectors until 1867.[3]
The royal decree of Isabela II of Spain (1830–1904) dated 19 October 1852 mandated the establishment of the Congregation of the Mission in the Philippine Islands "so that they should take charge of the teaching and administration of the Conciliar Seminaries." With this, Bishop Romualdo Jimeno of Cebu invited the Padres Paules (Vincentians) to take over the Seminary in 1863. In 1867, the Seminary, which was previously renamed as the Seminario Conciliar de San Carlos, was formally turned over to Fr. José Casarramona, CM., who became the rector. On May 15, 1867, under the rectorate of Fr. Casarramona, the Seminary allowed laymen to study as externs (colegiales), marking the beginning of the Seminario-Colegio which later became the University of San Carlos.
Under the Vincentian rectorship, the Seminary and College were made into separate institutions in response to Pope Pius XI's apostolic letter Officiorum omnium[4], which decreed that "seminaries should serve no other purpose than that for which they were founded."[5] Fr. H. Garcia was appointed as the Colegio
The Colegio de San Carlos was turned over to the Fathers of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in 1935. The first SVD rector was Fr. Arthur F. Dingman, SVD., who is the namesake of the main building of the University's Downtown Campus, located along P. del Rosario Street. The Colegio was elevated to university status in 1948, during Fr. Dingman's second term.
In 1964, the rectorate was re-established as the Office of the University President, with Fr. Rudolph Rahmann, SVD being the president. In 1970, Fr. Rahmann was succeeded by Fr. Amante Castillo, SVD, the University's first Filipino president. Following Fr. Castillo, Fr. Margarito Alingasa, SVD oversaw the Filipinization of the Univeristy of San Carlos, in response to Presidential Decree No. 176.[7] As of 2024, every president since Fr. Castillo's presidency has been Filipino.
The longest consecutively serving president has been Fr. Dionisio M. Miranda, SVD (2008–2020), who was conferred with the title of President Emeritus in 2023.[8]
There is ongoing dispute regarding the history of the University of San Carlos, and the origin of the office of the University President.