Beginnings The name San Juan de Letran is derived from the
Basilica of St. John Lateran in
Rome, considered as the Mother Church of Christendom. Early in the history of Letran, its chapel was granted many of the privileges enjoyed by the major basilica.
Saint John the Baptist, for whom the basilica is named, is the patron saint of Letran.
18th century In 1738, under the reign of King Philip V of Spain opened the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and
University of Santo Tomas, and six scholarships were granted by the king for Chinese, Japanese, and
Tonkinese students. Vicente Liem de la Paz, Letran's foremost alumnus, was among the students who enjoyed this scholarship taking up
trivium and
quadrivium along with four Tonkinese namely: Jose de Santo Tomas, Juan de Santo Domingo, Pedro Martir and Pedro de San Jacinto.
19th century In May 1865, Letran was graded as a College of the First Class by royal decree ordered by Queen Isabella II and, as a result, the school population rose considerably. The old school building of 1863 was knocked down in 1937 to build the present structure in commemoration of its tricentennial celebration. The new tricentennial building, now called the St. John the Baptist Building, with elements inspired by the Bauhaus and Art Deco movement of the 1920s and 1930s, was inaugurated under the supervision of Engineer Alberto Guevarra y Sanchez and blessed by Fr. Guillet. while the basic education department started accepting first-year female enrollees in 2006. In April 2007, Fr. Tamerlane Lana O.P. was elected rector and president of Letran, of the Intramuros and Abucay campuses, by the board of trustees to serve a four-year term until April 2011. Fr. Lana became the 80th rector of the Manila campus. Fr. Lana's administration has undertaken the task of changing and upgrading the Colegio's academic standards to meet those required to attain university status. Starting academic year 2007–08, Letran became a "wi-fi zone" to cater its students access to the internet. In October 2007, two former Letran administrators were among the 498 Spanish martyrs beatified by
Pope Benedict XVI. They are Fr. Jesus Villaverde Andres, OP, a former rector; and Fr. Antonio Varona Ortega, OP, a former professor and moderator of the
NCAA Philippines. On July 3, 2008, Fr. Lana formally launched the Letran Center for Intramuros Studies (LCIS). The initiative to establish the center sprang from the 12-year development plan as the school hopes to become a leader in cultural and historical studies, particularly on the subject of Intramuros. In July 2016, various Letran's academic programs were granted Level III status by PAASCU. In July 2023, Fr. Raymund Fernando P. Jose, O.P. was elected 82nd Rector and President of Letran Manila and Bataan. In September 2024, Letran was granted deregulated status by the Commission on Higher Education. Starting academic year 2025-2026, Letran has officially merged the College of Education (COED) and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) into one, now called the College of Education and Liberal Arts and Sciences (CELAS). ==Campus==