CHEd, Cebu City to aid gov’t scholars in private schools

THE Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) plans to give financial assistance to certain private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that accept government scholars who are covered by Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

CHED-Central Visayas (Region 7) Regional Director Dr. Freddie Bernal, however, clarified that this will be indirectly given to private HEIs in the form of scholarships, grants, loans and allowances.

“Distributing government funds to private institutions is prohibited. That is why these financial assistance would be availed through the students who are studying in private colleges and universities,” Bernal said.

Bernal revealed that they were still crafting guidelines on how the beneficiaries could avail of the program.

This year, CHED-7 has opened 600 slots for its scholarship program.

“This is to help students who were not able to enroll in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs), who are eligible to the offer of free college tuition,” he added.

In Central Visayas, SUCs that are offering free college tuition are Cebu Normal University (CNU), which has three campuses in Cebu City and in the towns of Medellin and Balamban; Cebu Technological University (CTU), which has nine campuses in the cities of Cebu and Danao as well as in the towns of Argao, Barili, Carmen, Daanbantayan, Moalboal, San Francisco and Tuburan.

The others are the Bohol Island State University (BISU), Negros Oriental State University (NORSU), Siquijor State College , Carcar City College, Sibonga Community College, Buenavista Community College and Trinidad Municipal College in Bohol.

On the other other hand, only four of the 10 LUCs in the region are eligible to offer free college tuition, namely, Carcar City College and Sibonga Community College, both in Cebu province; and Buenavista Community College and Trinidad Municipal College, both in Bohol.

The six others LUCs, all located in Cebu, are yet to comply with the requirements. These are Lapu-Lapu City College, Cordova Public College, Mandaue City College, Talisay City College, Consolacion Community College; and Madridejos Community College.

Each scholar may avail of P6,000 to P60,000 per semester in tuition, fees and allowances, depending on the program that they enrolled in. This also covers the uniform and book allowance of the scholars.

Bernal said they closed the submission of applications in the middle of May, with more than a thousand students having submitted an application.

Those who applied were asked to submit grade records, certificates of good moral character, and proof that their parents’ earnings do not exceed P300,000 per annum.

“We will also prioritize students whose family are 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) beneficiaries,” he said.

Earlier, CHED-7 has announced that around 29 private HEIs in Central Visayas had informed them that they will be increasing their tuition by six percent.

Of the 29, 16 HEIs would raise tuition fees for incoming freshmen while 13 would impose a new rate for their old students or for incoming second years and onwards.

In Cebu City, meanwhile, the city government is set to assist its scholars amid the looming tuition increase in private universities and colleges
Councilor Joy Augustus Young, chair of the city council’s committee on education, assured the city’s scholars would not have much to worry because although the tuition subsidy would still be at P10,000, the city government was negotiating with their partner schools to grant discounts to the city’s scholars to reduce their counterpart tuition payment.

“We are asking for discounts from the schools because we are sending them a large number of students,” said Young.

The city government has at least 5,000 scholars who are allowed to enter any university of their choice in Cebu City.

But most of the scholars have opted to study in University of Cebu (UC), University of the Visayas (UV) and Asian College of Technology (ACT) because these institutions offer special discounts to Cebu City.

Those studying in ACT enjoy free tuition with the guaranteed P10,000 subsidy from the city government while those in UC and UV only pay P2,000 per semester as tuition counterpart.

Young added they were also studying other forms of special scholarships or educational assistance to help students minimize their education cost.