NUSP bares schools seeking to jack up tuition, other fees

02/27/2009

The National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) yesterday released a partial list of schools seeking to jack up their tuition for school year 2009-2010.

At the same time, the NUSP blasted the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) for failing to freeze tuition hike for the coming school year.

NUSP vice president Einstein Recedes slammed Ched for failing to disclose the names of the 258 schools it had announced would likely increase school fees next school year.

“We are asking Ched to release the names of higher education institutions that filed petitions for tuition increases,” Recedes said.

NUSP yesterday took the initiative to release an initial bulletin of tuition and other fee increases that it was able to gather from reports by its member student councils under its Tuition Monitor initiative.

“Because Ched is so clearly incompetent at even monitoring schools which will implement increases, it is incumbent on student groups such as ours to do their job for them,” Recedes said.

The following is the list of schools (in the National Capital Region) that will increase their tuition for Academic Year 2009-20010: Lyceum of the Philippines, 5% increase in tuition and another 5% increase in miscellaneous fees; University of the East, 5% tuition increase; Far Eastern University, 6% tuition increase; San Juan de Letran College, 10% tuition increase.

Also included were the Philippine School of Business and Arts, 15% tuition increase; San Beda College, 20% tuition increase; University of Sto. Thomas, 7% tuition increase to incoming 1st-3rd year students and 8.52% tuition increase to incoming 4th year students.

UST is also increasing its miscellaneous fees by: 90.5% guidance and counseling fee increase, 7% library fee increase, 5.56% registration fee increase, 66.7% audio-visual fee increase to incoming 1st year students and 14.3% increase to incoming 2nd-4th year students, 7.14% drug testing fee increase, 9.09% energy fee increase, student activity fee increase of 3.58% to 1st-3rd year students and 42% increase to incoming 4th year students, 7% ROTC/NSTP fee increase, 7% related learning experience fee increase.

At UST College of Science, 70% thesis advising fee increase. In the faculty of medicine and surgery, 7.61% learning materials/test paper fee increase to 1st-3rd year students and 88.32% increase to 4th year students, and 46% LRU fee.

About 40% to 50% community service fee increase in college of commerce, institute of physical education and athletics, institute of tourism and hospitality management, college of accountancy, college of fine arts and design, and faculty of arts and letters.

At the college of fine arts, 8.52% increase in thesis advising fee and at the faculty of arts and letters, 81.82% increase in special lab fee- edtech radio and TV.

“The following are the schools that have either conducted or have yet to conduct tuition consultations with students but have not informed them about the proposed rate of tuition/miscellaneous fee increase: Technological Institute of the Philippines, Jose Rizal University, Manila Central University, Recedes said.

For her part, NUSP-NCR chairwoman Vanessa Bolibol said the data they had initially gathered was still incomplete and partial since some schools failed to even conduct consultations with students.

“In many cases we have documented, schools implement increases without even notifiying students or their parents,” Bolibol said.

She added the student councils in Metro Manila were gearing for a picket protest at the Ched main office in UP Diliman today, February 27, as part of a series of nationally coordinated actions against tuition and other fee increases.

Recedes reiterated the NUSP’s call for the implementation of a genuine tuition and other school fee moratorium, saying their group fully supports the passage of House Bill 2440, filed by Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño, which calls for a three-year moratorium on tuition and all school fee increases.

Jason Faustino

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