CHED drawing up framework to rationalize miscellaneous fees

Manila, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is drawing up a framework to rationalize the miscellaneous fees charged by colleges and universities in the country to address concerns of exorbitant and so-called ridiculous fees.

During the Senate’s inquiry into the issue yesterday, Senate committee on education chairman Edgardo Angara said it would be in the best interest of the schools and their associations to draw up standard miscellaneous fees that they could agree on.

“Announce it, solicit comments from students and parents and then once consultation is done, then that’s it, that’s the published standard rates,” Angara said.

“So that there would be none of these so-called hidden costs and some creeping costs. I think the associations should standardize it and have it published so that there would be no misunderstanding and no bizarre and exotic sounding fees,” he added.

Angara made the comment after hearing the claims of the representatives of student organizations complaining of redundant, ridiculous and excessive miscellaneous fees being collected by the schools on top of their tuition.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino, who was among the resource persons in yesterday’s hearing, cited a number of what he called dubious fees charged by the schools.

He cited “pistang pinoy fee” of Letran College, “stones and pebbles fee” of Silliman University and the “memorabilia fee” of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

He also cited the collection of St. Scholastica’s College of a thesis proposal fee worth P1,200, thesis editing fee (P900) and resumé printing fee (P245).

Palatino said he gathered the various fees that he mentioned from the websites of the various schools.

While the fees enumerated sounded ridiculous on the surface, there appeared to be some explanation to these fees, he said.

Ana Abad, lawyer of Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, said the administrators of St. Scholastica’s College conducted consultations about the fees with the parents and students through a multi-sectoral board prior to its imposition.

In the case of Silliman University, Pebbles and Stones turned out to be one of the official publications of the school.

However, there were a number of glaring examples cited by Palatino of redundant fees such as the energy fee, which is collected on top of the air-con fee, and a sports fee that is separate from the athletic fee.

“Parents will not complain if you collect the library fee, that’s reasonable. They’re complaining about the unreasonable and dubious and sometimes redundant fees,” Palatino pointed out.

“These hidden fees escape the radar of our education agencies like CHED. Given this lack of regulation, it is not surprising that many schools utilize these miscellaneous fees to rake in profit,” he added.

National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) president Einstein Recedes supported the claim of hidden charges by Palatino.

Recedes said they were not implemented using the miscellaneous fees but on the tuition itself.

Recedes described it as a carryover scheme involving the raising of tuition for the incoming freshmen, which is then carried over to the tuition of the upper classmen without benefit of any consultation before its imposition.

“So the increase in the tuition is done in secret by means of increasing the tuition of the freshmen,” he said.

Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU) legal counsel Antonio Abad said the claims of redundant fees may be considered as isolated cases and do not involve its member schools.

He said PACU members make it a point to enumerate the composition of miscellaneous fees and do not lump them together under a single item, as claimed by the student groups.

Abad also explained that miscellaneous fees vary from one school to another because they cater to different social classes.

“There are those who cater to class A, others to class B, still others to class C or D. The miscellaneous fees therefore differ from school to school depending on their clientele,” Abad said.

Abad also justified the need for the miscellaneous fees, which he said underwrite expenses of the institutions that are not covered by tuition.

He also argued the direct correlation between cost and quality when it comes to education in the country.

“We have to impose miscellaneous fees so that we will be able to survive. Otherwise the quality of education will certainly go down,” Abad said.

“And we speak of quality, although it may be cliché, but it is infallible truth that quality education is very expensive. There is a direct relationship between financial capability and quality of education,” he added. –Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star)