CHED: No funds for subsidized college scholarships

BAUANG, La Union, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has no allocation to subsidize scholarships of college students enrolled in various private tertiary schools across the country from 2021 to 2023.

CHED Region 1 director Danilo Bose confirmed that there is no fund allocated for beneficiaries of the Tertiary Education Subsidy program of the government because it was not included in the General Appropriations Act.

“There is no fund approved by Congress for the program in 2021, 2022 and this year. CHED has obliged with the financial requirements for the allocation of funds. However, only those for third and fourth year college beneficiaries were approved. No budget for first year and second year college,” Bose said.

The Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education is a component of Republic Act 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which provides free tuition and other school fees for college students enrolled in private schools.

The law was implemented in 2018 after then president Rodrigo Duterte signed it on Aug. 3, 2017.

The lack of scholarship fund was revealed after some 300 mostly first year and second year students of the La Union Colleges of Science and Technology (LUCSaT) in the province’s Bauang town complained that they are now ordered by school authorities to pay their tuition, miscellaneous and other school fees amounting to P40,000 each.

LUCSaT president Marie Cherry Quinto said they were obliged to collect tuition because they need to pay the salaries of their teachers.

“We need budget for the salaries of our teachers. (The reason) that (students) have to pay their tuition (is that) CHED has no more funds for the scholarship program for first year and second year college,” Quinto told Aksyon Radyo in an interview.

She added that CHED chairman J. Prospero De Vera III told them at a recent meeting that there is no more allocated fund for new grantees (first year and second year college students), but those in third year and fourth year college, who were given the grant in 2018, will continue to get the subsidy until next year.

The LUCSaT president gave assurance that they are willing to provide affected students with discounts for the latter to be able to pay their obligations to the school.

Students, however, are still insisting on availing themselves of the scholarship grant because they could not afford to pay the more than P20,000 discounted balance.