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CEBU CITY, Philippines — At least 31 High Education Institutions (HEIs) in Central Visayas have applied for tuition increase for school year 2024-2025, according to an official from the Commission on Higher Education in the region (CHED-7).
Maria Antonette Reyes, CHED-7’s Education Program Specialist, said that 14 of these have applied for tuition increase for incoming first year students only while the 17 others have applied for an increase in all year levels.
However, CHED-7 could not yet disclose the names of these institutions pending the evaluation of their applications.
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Schools are allowed to seek a minimum increase of 5.1 percent which is the “average inflation rate.” Those who will try to ask for more will have to justify the need for the amount sought.
“Usa na [ang average regional inflation rate] sa nga basehan sa approval sa reasonableness sa ilahang application,” Reyes said.
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“Naay uban nilapaw sa 5.1, so naa sila’y mga justification nga gi-attached,” she added.
Evaluation
Reyes said that the 17 HEI’s seeking increase in all year levels are asked to comply with requirements like the submission of a notarized minutes of their consultation with stakeholders that include faculty members, school organizations and the parents.
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Upon submission of the required documents, these will be sent to their head office for evaluation and approval. Applicant schools have until June 15 to comply with the requirements.
The evaluation for the 17 HEIs already started in February. The Commission’s en banc is set to release its decision before the incoming academic year starts.
On the other hand, the 14 HEI’s will only be asked to publicly announce the planned increase to disseminate information.
Tuition hike
Applicant HEIs mentioned of the need to increase the salaries of their teaching and non-teaching personnel and the need to improve some facilities at their school as reasons for the tuition hike.
Reyes said that as per CHED’s policy, 70 percent of the increase should be spent on salaries while 20 percent will be spent on improvement of facilities like laboratories and school buildings.
Johnny Yao Jr., Ched-7’s Supervising Education Program Specialist, said schools are authorized to keep the remaining 10 percent as a return of investment or profit.
Meanwhile, Reyes clarified that the list of HEIs authorized to implement tuition hike that was posted on their official Facebook page last week, was for school year 2023-2024.
The list of HEIs that are authorized to hike tuition for SY 2024-2025 is yet to be released.