Top universities’ profits double under Aquino term—youth group

A militant youth group claimed on Wednesday that profits of some of the country’s top private universities have nearly doubled under the term of President Benigno Aquino III—a sign, they said, of the “commercialized” nature of the country’s educational system.

Citing annual financial statements gathered from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Kabataan party-list said that five universities—Far Eastern University (FEU), University of the East (UE), Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU), University of Santo Tomas (UST), and De La Salle University (DLSU)—have increased their revenues and profits in a span of five years.

The youth group said that FEU posted an 81 percent profit growth: from P713 million in 2010 to P1.08 billion in 2015. The LPU posted 140 percent growth in its profits in the past five years: from P272.6 million in 2010 to P657.6 million in 2015.

The Manila-based UE also grew its net profit by 30 percent, from P352.3 million in 2010 to P463.5 million in 2015.

Considerable increases in net revenue were also posted by non-stock, non-profit universities like DLSU and UST: DLSU recorded a 62-percent growth from P381.9 million in 2010 to P734 million in 2015, while UST increased its net revenue from P941 million in 2010 to P1.3 billion in 2015.

Meanwhile, tuition rates have also soared in the past five years both in the private and state universities.

In state universities and colleges (SUCs), tuition collection has increased by 55 percent, from P5.3 billion in 2010 to P8.1 billion in 2015.

READ: More funds sought for state universities in 2016 budget

National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) president Sarah Elago assailed the increase in profits in some universities, saying that these schools have turned education into a “lucrative business.”

“With the highly deregulated nature of the Philippine education system, college education has become a very lucrative business, with many private universities posting billions upon billions in profit. These data show that under President Aquino, this system of moneymaking in education has clearly gone from bad to worse,” Elago said.

She also slammed the Aquino administration for supposedly making higher education in the country as a commodity.

“The cost of higher education, especially public higher education, is not only a local concern – but a national issue. The current state of college education in the country – which is highly unaffordable and inaccessible for the common Filipino – is the result of the Aquino administration’s continued push to turn education into a business venture, a luxury commodity, rather than a right,” Elago added. CDG

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