SAN FERNANDO CITY—Realizing that the enrollment period was over, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Tuesday ordered state universities and colleges (SUCs) that charged higher tuition this school year to either refund their students or credit their payment for the next semester.

At a Cabinet meeting in this La Union city, Ms Arroyo also directed the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to extend the enrollment period for public and private colleges and universities for one week to give students more time to enroll this school year.

The day before, the President ordered a freeze on tuition increases in SUCs, saying any adjustments in school fees were an added burden to most parents in “these belt-tightening times.” She also appealed to private schools to freeze their tuition.

This year, many private colleges and universities have already raised their fees by 8-10 percent, according to reports reaching CHEd. Private tertiary schools cater to almost 70 percent of the college students nationwide.

Enrollment over

The 170-member Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU) said the group could not suspend the tuition increases as the enrollment period for most, if not all, their member-schools was over.

“Early this year, no less than President Macapagal-Arroyo gave private educators the go-ahead to lift the rate cap on tuition but with the provision that it should be done only after consultations with students and their parents,” PACU president Gonzalo Duque said Tuesday.

Duque, whose family owns and operates Lyceum Northwestern University in Dagupan City, said “the consultation period between schools and students, as well as their parents, had already been conducted (in February).”

CHEd Commissioner Nona Ricafort expressed confidence that the 111 SUCs in the country, which are under the agency, would comply with the directives for a freeze on tuition increases and for those that had raised tuition to refund students or credit their payment for the next semester.

Less than 10% hiked fees

University of Northern Philippines in Vigan City in Ilocos Sur province did not raise tuition this school year, Dr. Lauro Tacbas, president of the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges, said.

“Any increase is subject to consultation with parents and approval of the school’s Board of Regents,” he said.

Only less than 10 percent of SUCs have increased tuition, according to Ricafort. A similar percentage of the 1,800 private colleges and universities have raised theirs, she said.

“In fact, our statistics show the number of private higher education institutions increasing their tuition has gone down every year,” Ricafort said.

Compared to last year, the number of private colleges and universities that increased tuition this year was 20 percent lower, according to the CHEd official.

‘Strongly appeal’

Ricafort said the CHEd could only “strongly appeal” to private colleges and universities to put on hold any tuition increase and for those that have already charged higher fees to return it to students.

“We’re positive that some of them will consider but to some who can’t really afford … well, we have to respect them,” she said. She said the CHEd knew that these schools were also affected by the rising cost of living.

Teacher party-list Rep. Mariano Piamonte Jr. saw a slim chance for private colleges and universities to heed the President’s appeal.

“Private schools are difficult to regulate (in terms of tuition) because they are not subsidized by the government,” he said at the weekly Forum at Ilustrado Restaurant in Intramuros, Manila.

Piamonte, a former Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines (CEAP) head, said the tuition increases were usually adjusted to the inflation rate.

“The schools know how much they need. Private schools are not crazy to price themselves out of the market,” he said.

CEAP director Joel Pagsanjan said the members of the organization were discussing the President’s appeal but were also considering operational costs of running the schools.

In an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas, Pagsanjan said Catholic educators were not only for profit but also for the pursuit of the evangelical mission.

Gratitude

Students from different state colleges and private universities trooped Tuesday to Malacañang to express gratitude to the President for the directive to freeze tuition increases although some maintained that the announcement should have come earlier.

At a press conference held in the Palace, some 25 students from privately owned and government-subsidized colleges and universities signed a manifesto thanking the President for her directive to halt tuition increases and for her appeal for restraint among private schools.

They claimed that the directive was proof of the government’s concern for education and the youth sector.

Several private school students, however, said the President’s directive should have come earlier.

Drop in enrollment

Centro Escolar University student Erlind Genivieve Blasurca, who was among those present at the press conference Tuesday, pointed out that while she appreciated the President’s gesture, several private schools had already raised tuition.

For those students protesting high tuition, Ricafort said the CHEd was urging them to transfer to SUCs because they were more affordable than private colleges and universities.

The militant League of Filipino Students (LFS) said another round of tuition increases would result in a further drop in enrollment.

“Between 2003 and 2007, the enrollment rate dropped at a rate of nearly one percent. We expect this figure to drop further this year,” LFS chair Vencer Crisostomo said. With reports from Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas and Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon