CHED yields to private schools’ demand to lift tuition cap

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has given in to the request of an association of private schools to remove the cap on tuition increases, paving the way for these schools to charge higher tuition this coming school year.

CHED chairman Carlito Puno has decided to scrap CHED Memorandum Order 14, which mandates that all tuition and other school fee increases imposed by private schools should not be higher than the prevailing inflation rate.

The removal of the tuition ceiling came after the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA), the largest association of private educational institutions in the country, held a lengthy dialogue with Puno recently.

Puno said the suspension of CMO 14 is only for one year and promised that CHED will have a new policy in place before June 2008.

He said CHED granted COCOPEA’s request after the country registered a 6.2 percent inflation rate hike, a positive growth in its gross national product, and an upswing on all its economic indicators.

Asked if granting COCOPEA’s request could make tuition rates soar, Puno said school owners are very much aware of the decrease in enrollment for the last four or five years and implementing an increase of 15 to 20 percent could be counterproductive.

He added that any tuition rate increase beyond 10 percent will require an extensive consultation.

Puno pointed out that COCOPEA has been negotiating for the removal of the tuition hike ceiling for last four years but CHED has managed to put this lobby off until now.

He said CHED has considered COCOPEA’s claim that a prohibition on increasing tuition and other fees will drastically affect their institutions’ competitiveness.

"To compete internationally, increase fees… you want quality, pay the price of quality," Puno said, noting that the Philippines’ competitiveness in education is declining.

He said the University of the Philippines now ranks 200th while De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University are ranked 400th among the world’s top educational institutions. All three schools used to occupy higher rankings.

The junking of CMO 14 came as a surprise to students and youth leaders led by the Kabataan party-list group and the National Union of Students of the Philippines, since it was a complete turnaround for Puno.

Puno earlier consistently dismissed COCOPEA’s claim that the tuition hike cap has affected their competitiveness since it has prevented them from improving their facilities.

In his earlier rejection of COCOPEA’s lobby against CMO 14, Puno stressed that school owners should not pass on to students the cost of improving their facilities.