903 primary, secondary schools, 354 colleges, universities hike tuition

MANILA, Philippines — At least 903 private elementary and high schools and 354 private colleges and universities were allowed to increase their tuition and other school fees this coming school year.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has approved the application of 903 private schools, representing six per cent of the 15,429 private elementary and high schools in the country.

DepEd is still evaluating the applications of 70 other schools even as it turned down those of 92 schools that were not able to justify their plan to raise fees.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) also approved the increase in tuition and school fees this year in 354 private colleges and universities, representing 21 per cent of the 1,683 higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country excluding those in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The five-member Commission granted on Monday the application of 354 out of the 451 private HEIs that wanted to increase their tuition and other school fees this year.

CHEd said that on the average, tuition would increase by P37.45 per unit or by 8.5 per cent, the lowest percentage increase in the last 10 years.

The national average increase in school fees is P194.62 or by 7.58 per cent, according to CHEd.

Most of the schools that have raised their tuition are in Metro Manila where private schools are concentrated.

Out of the 2,363 private elementary and high schools in Metro Manila, 260 schools were allowed to raise their tuition while 25 others are still waiting for DepEd’s decision.

The regions with the most number of private elementary and high schools that raised tuition are Central Luzon (Region III) with 227, Western Visayas (Region VI) with 110 and Calabarzon (Region IV-A) with 86.

The rest are in Region I with 69 schools; Region IV-B, 32; Region V, 63; Region VIII, 23; Region XII, 18; and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) with 15.

Out of the 308 private colleges and universities in Metro Manila, 95 wanted to increase their fees but 72 schools were cleared to raise tuition by an average of 6.79 per cent or P64.04 per unit.

The other regions with the most number of private HEIs that raised their fees are Calabarzon where 52 schools raised their tuition by 7.86 per cent or P48.81 per unit; and in Central Luzon where 37 raised their tuition by 8.86 per cent or P44.48 per unit.

The highest percentage increases were in Cagayan Valley (Region II) at 12.25 per cent or at P31.26 per unit; Bicol (Region V) at 11.83 per cent or P44.77 per unit and in Ilocos (Region I) at 11.12 per cent or by P34.10 per unit.

The government requires private schools that want to increase their tuition to allocate 70 per cent of the incremental increase for personnel salaries, 20 per cent for improvement of facilities and 10 per cent for return on investment.