Alumni OK UP tuition hike

The University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA) has expressed support to the proposed tuition increase and modification of the current education fee at the premier state university.

In a resolution, the UPAA Board of Directors unanimously voted in favor of the tuition increase, which they prefer to describe as an "adjustment to meet the level of inflation," considering the measure as a "very reasonable" move amidst the series of inflation over the years.

UP President Emerlinda Roman had proposed a 300 percent tuition increase or a maximum of P18, 000 per semester.

Currently, UP charges around P200 to P300 per unit, or about P3, 600 to P5,400 per semester at a regular load of 18 units.

Such proposal drew criticism, especially from student organizations, which claimed that the tuition increase would limit the chances of the poor but deserving students from availing of good education at UP.

UPAA president Gari Tiongco said majority of the group "favorably endorsed" the proposed tuition adjustment since it has been "a long time ago" since UP increased its tuition.

The official position of the UPAA on the issue has already been submitted to the UP Board of Regents, which shall decide on the tuition increase proposal of Roman.

"UP has gone down simply because we lack the facilities, because we have no money for research and because our professors are being pirated by other colleges. We want to maintain the quality of education (in UP)," said Tiongco, who is also a member of the UP Board of Regents.

"The last (tuition) increase in UP was made in 1989... So, we think it is about time," he added.

According to Tiongco, even with the proposed tuition increase, students of UP could still be aptly considered as "Iskolar ng Bayan" because the tuition adjustment would still be "way, way below" compared to the tuition of other leading schools and universities in the country.

He also explained that the proposed tuition adjustment would only affect incoming UP students and transferees to UP. 

He likewise noted that despite the proposed tuition adjustment, each student would still be subsidized P500 per unit.