This document provides an overview of higher education in the Philippines. It discusses the distribution of higher education institutions by type, trends in student enrollment, socioeconomic profiles of students, and government initiatives to improve access and equity. Key points include: - Private higher education institutions make up the majority (88%) of all HEIs in the Philippines. - Total undergraduate enrollment has declined in recent years due to K-12 but is projected to increase under new policies. - Students from poorer families are less likely to attend college and graduate. - The government has significantly increased funding for state universities and colleges and provides financial assistance targeted at poorer students. - New laws aim to provide universal access to quality tertiary education through free

1. J. PROSPERO E. DE VERA III, DPA
Commissioner, Commission on Higher Education

3. DISTRIBUTION OF 1,943 HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
AY 2016 - 2017
1,710 88% Private HEIs
112* 5.8% State Universities
and Colleges
107** 5.5% Local Universities
and Colleges
14 0.7% Other Gov’t HEIs
* For AY 2017-18, there will only be 111 Main SUCs due to
the amalgamation of MUST and MOSCAT to USTSP.
** Out of 107, 18 are now CHED-recognized (As of 31 August 2017)

4. DISTRIBUTION
OF STUDENT
ENROLLMENT
(Undergraduate)
2013 - 2017
REDUCED STUDENT
ENROLLMENT DUE TO
K to 12
3,136,324
3,384,260
3,659,482
3,194,916
2,672,769
SUCs
LUCs
PRIVATE HEIs
FIRST BATCH OF
SHS GRADUATES
ENTERING
COLLEGE
2,482,844

5. TERTIARY
GROSS
ENROLLMENT
RATIO IN
ASEAN
AY 2016 - 2017
28PHILIPPINES

6. HIGHER
EDUCATION
GROSS
ENROLLMENT
RATIO BY
REGION
AY 2016 - 2017

7. DISTRIBUTION
OF STUDENT
ENROLLMENT
(Undergraduate)
AY 2017 - 2018
SUCs
36%
887,258
LUCs
7.7%
189,120
PRIVATE HEIs
56.3%
1,389,078
2,482,844
TOTAL STUDENTS

8. POOREST 20% SECOND 20% MIDDLE 20% FOURTH 20% RICHEST 20%
SOCIO-
ECONOMIC
PROFILE OF
STUDENTS IN
SUCs
WHERE STUDENTS GO
FOR COLLEGE, BY
INCOME CLASS 18 12
82 88
2014 2016
26 24
74 76
2014 2016
SUCs
PRIVATE HEIs
40
31
60
69
2014 2016
53
46
47
54
2014 2016
69 68
31 32
2014 2016
Source: UniFAST calculations using APIS 2014 and APIS 2016

9. 32.1% High cost of education
LACK OF
RESOURCES IS
THE MAIN
DETERMINANT
FOR CONTINUED
EDUCATION
26.0% Looking for work
25.7% Family matters
13.1% Lack of interest
1.5% Illness / Disability | 1.5% Others | 0.2% Accessibility of school
WHY 16-22 YEAR OLD HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
IN BOTTOM 40% ARE NOT IN SCHOOL

10. 3% 6% 11% 24% 52%
POOREST 20% SECOND 20% MIDDLE 20% FOURTH 20% RICHEST 20%
THE POOREST ARE
LESS LIKELY TO
GO TO COLLEGE
AND
LESS LIKELY TO
GRADUATE
TERTIARY LEVEL
GRADUATE
PROCEED TO
TERTIARY
SECONDARY
GRADUATE
30%
44%
57%
71%
86%
7%
13%
22%
39%
65%

11. PROVIDING
SUPPORT TO
THE POOREST
Expanded Students
Grant-in-Aid Program
for Poverty Alleviation
SGP-PA Fund (‘000) Slots Enrollment Graduate
2012-13 500,000 4,041 4,041
2013-14 500,000 4,041 4,041
2014-15 2,500,000 40,453 37,576
2015-16 2,500,000 40,453 38,252 3,109
2016-17 2,500,000 40,453 29,401* 3,236
2017-18 2,394,997 38,754
* As of September 5, 2017, from 82 SUCs

12. Students who belong to families
at the bottom 20% of our
population is already being
supported by the government
through the Expanded Students’
Grants-In-Aid Program for
Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA)
jointly executed by DSWD, CHED,
and SUCs.
644,7102018 TARGET BENEFICIARIES
34,698
P733 Million
MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS
Scholarship Grants and
Iskolar ng Bayan Act
566,625
P6.8 Billion
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Grants-in-Aid, Student
Loans, and Tulong Dunong
in CHED and SUCs*
2,934
P106 Million
TARGETED GRANTS
In partnership with:
DND, PAMANA, OPAPP,
SRA
40,453
P2.5 Billion
FOR THE POOREST
E-SGPPA for Pantawid
Beneficiaries*
QUINTILE 5
QUINTILE 1
QUINTILE 2
QUINTILE 3
QUINTILE 4
40,453 E-SGPPA SLOTS
2016

13. PERSISTENT ● Limited access to quality higher education
for the deserving poor and disadvantaged
● Need for a strategic roadmap in the
development of PUBLIC higher education
institutions, while delineating the role of
PRIVATE higher education
● Need to improve quality of programs in
both public and private HEIs in
coordination with K-12
● Deteriorating quality that has led to skills-
jobs mismatch, low productivity in
research and development, and a deficient
science and innovation culture
ISSUESIN HIGHER EDUCATION

14. UNPRECEDENTED
INVESTMENTS IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
to expand access and to upgrade
State Universities and Colleges

15. COVERAGE
All Filipino students enrolling
in undergraduate programs in
SUCs for AY 2017-2018, subject
to the President’s prioritization
directive and availability of
funds
Includes subsidy for Filipino
Doctor of Medicine students
IMPROVING ACCESS & EQUITABILITY
OF COLLEGE EDUCATION
P8.317 Billion Free Tuition in
State Universities & Colleges
Academic Year 2017-18
990,899
TARGET BENEFICIARIES
111
STATE UNIVERSITIES
& COLLEGES

16. MEDICAL EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS
CASH GRANT TO MEDICAL STUDENTS IN SUCS PER JMC 2017-4
Special Provisions No. 6 Applicable to SUCs, Volume 1-A. page 964 of R.A. No. 10924
also known as the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of FY 2017
UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS
ENROLLED
Mariano Marcos State University 95
University of Northern Philippines 298
Cagayan State University 454
Bicol University 249
West Visayas State University-Main 140
University of the Philippines-Leyte
Mindanao State University-Main 267
University of the Philippines-Manila 660
TOTAL 2,163
Of the P317 Million budgeted for 2017, P122 Million
is projected to be utilized for the First Semester
while the remaining amounts shall be budgeted for
the Second Semester.

17. OVERALL
BUDGETARY
ALLOCATION
OF SUCs
CO
MOOE
PS Regular 35,934,625
FY 2014 GAA
42,279,507
FY 2015 GAA
47,414,727
FY 2016 GAA
58,718,377
FY 2017 GAA
61,431,672
FY 2018 NEP

18. ADDITIONAL
FACULTY
PLANTILLA
ITEMS
REQUIREMENT
REGION
ADDITIONAL FACULTY
ITEMS NEEDED
NCR 3,427
I 940
CAR 386
II 1,803
III 3,188
IV-A 2,574
IV-B 1,016
V 1,059
Based on Required no. of Plantilla based on 1:25 FS Ratio
and existing no. of faculty with plantilla
REGION
ADDITIONAL FACULTY
ITEMS NEEDED
VI 1,416
VII 2,068
VIII 1,525
IX 449
X 749
XI 699
XII 690
CARAGA 492

19. GAA 2017
(‘000)
GAA 2018
(‘000)
% Increase
PS 35,810,476 38,168,138 6.6%
MOOE 12,742,767 9,772,622 -23.3%
CO 10,165,134 14,174,560 39.4%
TOTAL 58,718,377 62,115,320 5.8%
INCREASE IN
FUNDS
FOR CAPITAL
OUTLAY
in State Universities
and Colleges (SUCs)

20. UNIVERSAL
ACCESS TO
QUALITY
TERTIARY
EDUCATION
Republic Act 10931

21. THE UNIFIED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SYSTEM
FOR TERTIARY EDUCATION (UNIFAST) ACT
I. To allocate and utilize properly
all government resources
intended for students through
effective beneficiary-targeting;
II. To ensure consistency,
continuity, and efficient
coordination of student
financial assistance policies
and programs;
III. To ensure regional equity in
the distribution of student
financial assistance slots;.
IV. To produce a pool of highly
qualified graduates and technical
experts who will contribute to the
country’s high-level labor force
through merit and talent-based
Scholarships;
V. To facilitate access to quality
education through Grants-in-Aid
for students belonging to
marginalized sectors; and
VI. To assist students with liquidity
issues through Student Loans.

22. THE UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO QUALITY
TERTIARY EDUCATION ACT
I. Provide adequate funding and
such other mechanisms to
increase the participation rate
among all socioeconomic classes
in tertiary education;
II. Provide all Filipinos with equal
opportunity to quality tertiary
education in both the private and
public educational institutions:
III. Give priority to students who are
academically able and who come
from poor families;
IV. Ensure the optimized utilization of
government resources in
education;
V. Provide adequate guidance and
incentives in channeling young
Filipinos in their career choices
and towards the proper
development and utilization of
human resources; and
VI. Recognize the complementary
roles of public and private
institutions in tertiary educational
system.

23. STUDENTS
EXPECTED
NEXT YEAR
In Public Colleges
and Universities
● Enrolment in SUCs: 976,710 (85%)
● Enrolment in LUCs: 172,361 (15%)

24. 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
3,194,916
TOTAL STUDENTS
2,672,769
TOTAL STUDENTS
2,482,844
TOTAL STUDENTS
INCREASING
INVESTMENT TO
PUBLIC HIGHER
EDUCATION
There is substantial increase
in the support of Higher
Education in SUCs and LUCs.
165,701
StuFAPs 454,554
StuFAPs
644,710
StuFAPs
40,453
ESGPPA
500,000
TES

25. IMPROVING ACCESS
AND EQUITABILITY OF
COLLEGE EDUCATION
Republic Act 10931
Universal Access
to Quality Tertiary
Education Act
51.4B TOTAL FOR 2018
₱ 22.6 B
Free Tuition and Other School Fees (TOSF)
Assuming All SUCs, 18 CHED-recognized LUCs
₱ 7 B
Free Technical-Vocational Education &
Training (TVET)
Assuming All public TESDA providers
₱ 21.6 B
Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES)
Assuming Good for 540,232 students with PhP
40,000 amount of annual subsidy
₱ 54 M
National Student Loan Program (NSLP)
Assuming Equivalent to 2018 allocation for
CHED’s Study Now Pay Later Program
₱ 108 M
Administrative Cost
Assuming 0.5% of allocation for TES and NSLP

26. WHICH ARE
ELIGIBLE TO
PROVIDE
FREE
HE
FREE
TVET TES
SHORT-TERM
SLP
LONG TERM
SLP
SUC YES
YES
If offering
TESDA-
registered
TVET
YES
If included in the
list of Registry
of Quality-
Assured
Programs &
Institutions
YES
If included in the
Registry & if DBP
provided
funding after
their due
diligence
assessment of
the institution
TBD
Yet to be
determined by
the Board
whether SLP
Partner-Banks
exclusively or
with SLP
Partner-
educational
institutions
LUC
YES
If CHED-
recognized
TTI NO
LGU-run
TVI NO
PRIVATE
TVI NO NO
PRIVATE
HEI NO NO

27. shall be covered by the
program, including
TVET programs in
SUCs and LUCs
ALL
PUBLIC TVET
INSTITUTIONS
The Free TVET
package will include,
for the duration of the
program,:
NATIONAL
ASSESSMENT FEES,
STARTER
TOOLKITS,
AND LIVING
ALLOWANCE
FREE TVET
TUITION
AND OTHER
SCHOOL FEES
The following provisions
will be adopted owing to
the different nature and
average duration of TVET
programs:

28. The benefit package shall vary
depending on where they will
study:
1. Eligible students going to
private HEIs shall receive
the full benefit package
consisting of “TOSF TES”
and “Cost of Living” TES
2. Eligible students going to
public HEIs shall only
receive the “Cost of Living”
TES, as TOSF is already free
in their institutions
Eligible students shall
be awarded the TES
before the start of the
Academic Year
TERTIARY
EDUCATION
SUBSIDY
The TES shall be the
national grants-in-aid
program and it shall be
administered by the
UniFAST Board:
(i.e. need to take board exams and
being a person with disability)
but shall only be accessible to
students who satisfy specific
conditions in the IRR
A separate grant to cover
special circumstances
mentioned in the law may
be created

29. NATIONAL
STUDENT
LOAN
PROGRAM
subject to continuous
improvement until the
best working models
are reached by AY 2020
How can we develop an effective and
sustainable National Student Loan Program that
allows us to address the following issues:
● Targeting to ensure that it supports those
who need it most
● Difficulty in determining family income
(as a basis for determining loan eligibility)
● Tracking graduates following graduation to
ensure repayment

30. ONGOING
DISCUSSIONS
ON THE IRR
OF RA 10931
● Ensure that lessons / problems
encountered in P8 Billion Free Tuition is
incorporated in the Implementing Rules
and Regulations (IRR) of RA 10931
● Return Service component
● How to make Student Loan Program
work

31. STEPS FORWARD
To address REGIONAL INEQUITIES in ACCESS
● Is it serving the underserved and the poorest?
● Is it accessible to those living in more isolated communities?
● How do we work with SUCs in making their admission policies inclusive, and
what can SUCs do to improve retention and completion rates?
To determine quality indicators for SUCs
● Ensuring that SUCs do not overextend their capacity
● Assessing capacity of SUCs in providing quality education and a conducive
learning environment, vis-a-vis seat capacity (eg. Availability of dormitories,
facilities and libraries, number of faculty and staff, among others)
To ensure responsiveness and relevance of SUCs to regional needs