Tuition freeze in 178 C. Luzon schools

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Majority of 200,000 college students and their parents in Central Luzon will enjoy a respite from increases in tuition and other fees in school year 2009-2010.

One hundred and fifty nine private colleges and universities, 11 state colleges and universities and eight local community colleges have opted not to seek increases or have withdrawn applications for additional rates, according to Dr. Felizardo Francisco, regional director of the Commission on Higher Education.

Francisco said the 178 schools in the region heeded the appeal of CHEd chair, Dr. Emmanuel Angeles, not to raise tuition and other fees to help families cope with the economic crisis at this time.

“The schools have either sympathized [with parents and students] or they don’t want their enrolment to suffer,” he said.

The region’s biggest and Catholic Church-supervised universities – Holy Angel in Angeles City and Assumption in the City of San Fernando, both in Pampanga – have displayed streamers announcing zero-increase in tuition.

Of the 36 schools that applied for increases, 26 withdrew, leaving only seven schools with pending requests for adjustments in rates.

Application

STI College in Balanga City, which has not increased rates in the last two years, is seeking a 5-percent tuition increase for first year students only.

St. Paul University of Bocaue town in Bulacan and Dominican College of Tarlac, which froze rates for two years, have asked for a 7-percent and 10-percent hike on tuition and other fees, respectively.

Pampanga Colleges in Macabebe town is considering a 100-percent increase on selected miscellaneous fees, having last increased those in 2001.

Baliuag University is seeking a 10-percent increase for energy and technology upgrade.

The Lyceum Subic Bay and Midway Maritime Foundation in Cabanatuan City plan a 20-percent and 10-percent increase, respectively, to pay for salary adjustments.

The CHEd has not approved these applications. The schools have to conduct consultations with parents and students and submit financial documents, Francisco said.

College education in the region remained costly, though, ranging from P200 to P400 per unit.

Enrolment

College enrolment in the region continued to be on a rise-and-drop trend. The 181,902 enrollees in 2002 rose to 201,997 in 2003, dropping again the following years and rising to more than 180,000 in 2008.

Majority of students enrolled in business administration, education, mathematics and computer science, engineering, and medical and allied courses.

In a related development, the CHEd’s technical committee for nursing education completed its leg of consultations in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Central Luzon on Friday at the Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City.

The committee presented a so-called enhanced curriculum that will be completed by students within four years, including two summers. This veered away from the original five-year course required in CHEd Memorandum No. 5, which Angeles suspended.–Tonette Orejas, Central Luzon Desk