To help students cope with crisis, UV decreases tuition by 10%

Cebu - In response to the global economic crisis affecting not only the business sector, the University of the Visayas will be implementing a 10-percent tuition fee decrease in most of its colleges starting this summer.

UV assistant vice president for finance Joselito “Jiji” Gullas, in a press conference yesterday at the UV Main Campus Hotel and Restaurant Management Laboratory, said they are doing this as part of the school’s commitment to the community.

This is also due to the expected decrease of students enrolling for this school year following the closure of several companies or parents losing jobs due to the economic crisis.

Gullas said though UV enjoyed a slight increase on its enrolment last year, this might change for the 2009-2010 school year.

The decrease will cover all UV college campuses in Cebu City, Mandaue City, Danao City, Dalaguete and Toledo City.

The decreased tuition fee will cover per unit of all subjects in particular courses and does not include the miscellaneous fees where the operating and maintenance expenditures of the school.

UV budget officer Gelacio Jumao-as said UV colleges offer an average of P450 per unit in its subjects. With the discount a three-unit subject will now only cost students P1,350.

All enrolled and incoming students starting this summer classes will enjoy tuition fee decrease. 

But according to Gerard Anthony “Didi” Gullas, assistant vice president for administration, the tuition fee adjustment does not cover those taking graduate school, medicine and the dentistry.

This is because most of UV’s dentistry students are foreigners while those taking up Medicine and graduate school are mostly professionals with stable jobs.

The Gullases also said they did not include the elementary and the high school departments because compared to other universities offering the same, UV elementary and high schools tuition fees are already relatively lower compared to others.

The decision was not made without sacrifice on the part of the school administration and its staff. 

Didi Gullas said the university agreed last week to freeze all its planned salary adjustments for all faculty staff and non-teaching staff this year and whatever they can save will be used for the students.

School facility developments scheduled for this year will also be held off for the same reason. 

The university’s existing scholars will still have their monthly allowances, stipends and other benefits but no new scholars will be accepted this year.

Families with several students enrolled in UV will still enjoy the usual family discounts so they will continue their schooling, so are those who are already enjoying discounts such as students working in government agencies.

“With all these black clouds all over the world, we decided to do this… We know it is just a band-aid cure, but at least we’ve done something,” Jiji Gullas said.

The decrease will stay until 2010 and may be extended if the economic situation does not improve.

For the past five years, UV has experienced an estimate of five-percent average decrease on its enrolees except for last year’s slight increase.

UV has an estimated 20,000 students from all over its satellite campuses, 13,000 of these are in the UV Main Campus in Colon St., Cebu City.

Established in 1919 as the Visayas Institute, it became a university as years passed. It is considered the first university in the Visayas.

The school is the only university who initiated “firsts” compared to other universities in the Visayas in giving discounts to members of the police and military personnel; government agencies employees, differently-abled people who choose to continue their studies and the first to help students find jobs with the PESO program, and the night classes for working students. – Edwin Ian Melecio/BRP (THE FREEMAN)