CHED cautions schools on tuition increase

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Thursday warned higher education institutions (HEIs) against raising their tuition, saying that there is a process to increase tuition that includes consultation with parents and students. Lawyer Julito Vitriolo, CHED executive director, made the warning after students of several private colleges and universities complained to them of tuition hikes made during the second semester of classes.

“They can’t raise their tuitions unless they comply with our requirements,” he said, adding that the CHED will investigate the complaints.

Vitriolo said that HEIs are not allowed to raise tuition twice in a single academic year, and that the CHED only allows this if the increase is implemented on a staggered basis.

“Pwede rin kung staggered basis. Bale hinati ang implementation pero kung ang total ay na-aaply na sa first semester yun na yun at di na pwede magtaas sa susunod na semester [It will be allowed if it is on a staggered basis. So the implementation of a tuition hike should be divided, but if the total increase was applied in the first semester, there should be no further hike in the second semester],” he explained.

The commission said that 339 HEIs out of the 1,791 have raised their tuition in June.

Two of the 339 were state universities and colleges.

Vitriolo said that they are still updating their data on the number of schools that raised their tuition this second semester.

Seventy percent of tuition hikes are intended for faculty salaries, while 30 percent are meant for upgrading school facilities.

‘Win-win’ situation
During an earlier interview, CHED Chairman Dr. Patricia Licuanan said that they will look for a “win-win” solution to the perennial problem of tuition increases.

But she pointed out that student groups should also understand the plight of private school owners, saying that the latter bear the burden of providing salaries of their faculty and acquiring or upgrading equipment.

“We have to find ways to address the needs of the school to pay their teachers particularly at the private schools kasi wala silang [because they do not have] subsidy from the government. We cannot keep our faculty at a standstill but, of course, we don’t want to price education out of the market. We have to find a way, we have to find something that’s realistic,” Licuanan said.

Meanwhile, the commission said that it will study a plan of former CHED Chairman Emmanuel Angeles to tap overseas loans to carry out the upgrading of the facilities and other infrastructure of HEIs in the country.

Licuanan earlier said that the commission needs additional funding to make up for the 2011 budget cut, which would see the CHED’s budget go down from this year’s P2.54 billion to P1.69 billion for 2011.

The budget for CHED’s scholarship program next year was also reduced P501 million from the current P1.15 billion. –MARIA NIKKA U. GARRIGA REPORTER, Manila Times