304 colleges get nod to hike tuition

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has allowed 304 private universities and colleges to raise tuition and other school fees for the incoming school year.

In a statement yesterday, CHED said the number of higher education institutions (HEIs) allowed to implement hikes represents around 18 percent of the total 1,659 private tertiary schools operating in the country.

“CHED’s approach to the issue of tuition is holistic. In the light of contending concerns and interests in society, there is a need to balance access issues with sustainability of educational institutions,” said CHED chairperson Patricia Licuanan.

“For its part, CHED ensures that HEIs meet the guidelines provided by law, especially the requirement of consultation, the proper allocation of tuition fees and strict adherence with the processes that seek to make tuition and other school fee increases transparent, reasonable and affordable,” she added.

From 304 HEIs allowed to implement hikes, CHED said 280 will increase tuition while 252 will increase other school fees.

Based on these figures, it means that 228 schools will increase both tuition and other fees.

The remaining 52 HEIs will only increase tuition, while 24 will only increase other school fees.

The agency said the average increase in tuition is 5.10 percent or P43.39, while increase in other school fees is 5.41 percent or P115.58 per semester.

The list of HEIs allowed to implement hikes has yet to be released.

CHED said it is guided by various measures, including the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Act that provides for the breakdown on where private schools should allocate the increases.

The law states that 70 percent of the increase should be for the increase of salaries, wages, allowances and other benefits of teaching and non-teaching personnel; 20 percent for improvement of facilities and 10 percent for return on investment.

The agency said it also has guidelines and procedures governing increases which take into account factors such as regional inflation rate, financial standing of the institution, financial capacity of the general studentry, impact of force majeure or calamities, quality track record of the school and the mission and vision of the institution.

“(The agency also used) the ‘education deflator,’ which measures the average cost of providing education services based on the regional inflation rate. The use of this framework will be further strengthened and fine-tuned in the coming years,” said CHED.

P5.7 B for scholarships

For the incoming school year, the commission said it has allocated over P5.7 billion for student financial assistance programs for Filipino students.

CHED said this amount translates to around 280,000 slots for college students.

“A large portion of these funds will go to more than 40,000 poorest of the poor students enrolled in state universities and colleges under the Expanded Student Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation,” Licuanan said.

“These students belong to families identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program,” she added.

The CHED chief also stressed that the passage of the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) law will benefit more Filipino students as it would unify all government scholarship programs.

“The UniFAST rationalizes the allocation, utilization and client-targeting of government resources and improves access to quality higher and technical education for those who need it,” said Licuanan.

“It also serves as the ultimate national human resource development mechanism and strategy that will direct beneficiaries to priority degree programs needed for economic growth and development,” she added.

The announcement of CHED came after the Department of Education (DepEd) announced that it has allowed 1,232 private elementary and high schools to increase tuition and other school fees.

The decision to allow the increase was criticized by several student and youth groups.

“This is horrendous – a crime on top of another crime. First, there is K-12 that forces students to enroll in private schools and now, tuition hikes are approved. This is unacceptable,” League of Filipino Students (LFS) national secretary-general Aries Gupit said.