Government colleges, universities warned vs accepting too many students

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) cautioned government-funded colleges and universities on Thursday against accepting students beyond the carrying capacity of their academic institutions.

With the implementation of free higher education law this year, CHED officer-in-charge J. Prospero de Vera said state and local universities and colleges (SUCs/LUCs) are receiving a higher number of applications from interested freshman students.

“If you have too many students, you will need classrooms, they will start demanding new faculty items, it’s never going to end. They have to base their enrollment on their carrying capacity,” he said.

De Vera noted that the practice of not accepting all interested applicants is not new, citing the case of UP which accepts only around 15 percent of entrance examinees.

Based on data from the Department of Education, some 1.2 million students graduated from senior high school this year. 

To ensure that disadvantaged students will get access in SUCs and LUCs, De Vera said the free higher education law provides for the implementation of affirmative action programs to increase intake of students from public schools, poor households and communities, indigenous groups and students with disabilities.