Budget department estimates Free Tuition Law will cost P51 billion

September 6, 2017

The Department of Budget and Management, citing initial estimates, said the Free Tuition Law will cost around P51 billion for its first year of implementation, a statement said Wednesday.

The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (RA 10931) was signed into law by President Duterte last August 3.

The law covers eight State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in Metro Manila, 49 in the rest of Luzon, 26 in the Visayas, and 29 in Mindanao, as well as CHED-accredited Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) and TESDA-run Technical Vocational Institutions (TVIs).

The law will exempt all enrolled students from 2018 onwards from paying tuition, miscellaneous and other school fees such as registration fees, laboratory fees, among others.

To ensure merit-based admission to public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), DBM is proposing a national entrance examination for all aspiring enrollees, on top of tightening admission and retention policies in HEIs.

Another component of the law is the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) which will provide allowance for books, school supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses to select student beneficiaries. Students who are part of 4Ps-beneficiary households will be prioritized for the subsidy, while students who are not part of such households will be evaluated based on income.

Student loan options will also be made available for students from private universities. Funds for such loans will be sourced from CHED’s Study Now, Pay Later program which has an allocation of around 54 million in the proposed 2018 budget.

CHED and DBM are exploring other possible mechanisms to allow loan options in private HEIs, such as entering into guarantees with government-owned banks such as the Landbank and DBP. DMS