Marcos Jr. signs expanded tertiary education bill into law

MANILA, Philippines — Working professionals with over five years of experience can now complete their college education and advance their careers without going through traditional schooling methods.

President Marcos on Monday signed Republic Act 12124 or the expanded tertiary education equivalency and accreditation program (ETEEAP).

Under the law, qualified professionals will be granted academic degrees following an assessment of their skills, knowledge and levels of competence.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has been designated as the lead agency in implementing the ETEEAP.

The CHED will be tasked with deputizing higher education institutions with academic degrees to be opened for the ETEEAP.

The agency will also develop standards for a diversified mode of assessing applicants, as well as grant or revoke schools’ authority to implement the program.

Applicants must have over five years of aggregate work experience in the industry related to the academic degree program where equivalency of learning is sought.

Filipinos residing in the Philippines or abroad must be at least 23 years old and have finished a secondary school program at the time of application.