In light of 25% discouragement rate of UPCAT passers

UP revises ‘socialized’ tuition scheme, new application process hikes tuition by as much as 65%

Changes in the application process of the University of the Philippines’ ‘socialized’ tuition scheme has led in ‘virtual’ tuition hikes from 50 to 65%, or from P600 to P1000 per unit, and from P1000 to P1500 per unit.

In the so-called ‘socialized’ tuition system in the University (Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program, or STFAP), students are grouped into five ‘brackets’, supposedly according to their household income. All students are assumed to be part of the ‘default bracket’, and submit themselves to a lengthy application process to qualify for other brackets with cheaper tuition rates. In the Diliman, Manila, and LB campuses, the brackets are: P1500, P1000, P600, P300, and P0, with P1000 being the ‘default’. In Baguio, Pampanga, Visayas, and Mindanao, the ‘default’ is pegged at P600.

Starting this semester however, the default brackets have been changed to P1500 and P1000 per unit, respectively. This, in effect, is a ‘virtual’ tuition fee increase from P1000 and P600 per unit.

“In light of the growing number of UP entrance exam passers who can’t afford the tuition, this latest development will only worsen the situation” said Vencer Crisosotmo, national chairperson of Anakbayan.

Recent news has shown that a full 25% of all the UPCAT passers this year chose not to enroll in UP. Some who did enroll, backed out after discovering how much the tuition is.

The youth leader pointed out that the continuing government policy of slashing funding for State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) is to blame for this latest development. This year’s UP budget was cut by P1.39 billion. Under the previous administration, the University’s funding was also constantly reduced.

Crisostomo added that UP organizations, both of students and teachers, have criticized the STFAP as a ‘smokescreen’ for hiking the tuition. For example, when the STFAP was first introduced under the late former president Cory Aquino, the tuition was raised from P40 to P300 per unit. The introduction of the present STFAP scheme in 2007 was accompanied by an increase from P300 to P1000.

From the Office of Student Regent, UP Visayas and Mindanao student councils