Students from 4 Big Universities Oppose Tuition Hikes

Students from four of the country’s biggest tertiary private schools will file complaints before the Commission on Higher Education Regional Office this week over disputes with school officials on proposed increases in tuition and other fees.

BY RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat

Students from four of country’s biggest tertiary private schools will file complaints opposing tuition hikes before the Commission on Higher Education Regional Office (CHEDRO) in Pasig City this week. They are also asking the House of Representatives to intervene. 

Students spearheaded by their leaders from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), University of the East (UE), Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI) and Far Eastern University (FEU) will troop to the CHEDRO Office next week to file their complaints.

Violations

Rizza Ramirez, national president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), condemned the school officials for violating the guidelines on the conduct of consultations for tuition increase proposals as cited in the CHED memorandum No. 13.

“We demand that the CHED reject applications of these schools for tuition increases,” Ramirez said.

For instance, Ramirez said, the UST administration did not comply with the prescribed 15-day prior notice. The notice for the meeting, dated Feb.4, was given to student council officers, Feb. 5.  UST officials and the students met in a dialogue on Feb.19, or one day short of the prescribed period. The administration proposed a four-percent increase in tuition.

Furthermore, the NUSP president said, the UST administration has also failed to comply with the 70-30 percent incremental proceeds of the previous tuition increases.  According to the law, 70 percent should be allotted for the increase in salary and other benefits of the faculty members and employees. Thirty percent must be allotted for the improvement of facilities. 

However, the UST Faculty Union (USTFU) revealed they have not received an accumulated P40 million of their share from the proceeds of tuition hikes in the last five years. The Samahan ng Manggagawa sa UST also hit the UST administration for refusing to enter into the negotiations for the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

In their letter of complaint, UST student leaders accused the administration of using fraudulent amounts as current tuition rates in their proposal. Based on the proposals they received, the current rate of tuition in undergraduate courses is P864.60 per unit.  However, students’ registration forms this year show that they are already charged P900 per unit. 

Fake arbiters

Meanwhile, NUSP said the UE administration violated Article 6.3 of the CHED memorandum which states that a multi-sectoral committee composed by CHEDRO shall resolve any dispute arising from tuition increase consultations. In the Feb. 22 dialogue, student councils unanimously opposed the proposed ten-percent tuition increase. The UE administration selected “arbiters” from the UE Alumni Association to resolve the deadlock in the consultations.  As expected, the “arbiters” favored the tuition hike, NUSP said.

As one of the top earning schools in the country, the UE can operate for years without increasing its tuition, Ramirez said. The CHED must deny UE’s application for tuition hike alongside other colleges and universities included in the Top 1,000 corporations, she added. UE ranked 517 in the top corporations in 2003 with a profit amounting to P63.26 million.

Meanwhile, a group of FEU students said campus activists were barred from participating in a dialogue called by their administration. No representatives from the faculty and non-teaching personnel as stated in the CHED memorandum, were present either.

Like UE, FEU was among the top earning schools in 2003.  FEU ranked 272 with a profit amounting to P155.79 million.

Students from PMI Institute in Manila will also file similar complaints before the CHED. The PMI administration failed to post notices on the 15-percent proposed tuition hike, the students said.

Other fees

UST students also questioned the legality of charging laboratory tuition fees ranging from P1,276.30 to P1,729.20 per unit.  Separate laboratory fees and tuition are collected from the students.

The P500-medical and dental fee will be increased by 40 percent, it was reported. In a survey conducted by the Alliance of Concerned Thomasians, about 35 percent of the total collection from this fee was consumed last year. Only 54 percent of the respondents actually availed of the university’s health services.

The UST administration also plans to impose a 67-percent hike in other fees including a new bar operations fee charged to sophomore and junior law students.

Ramirez, who is from the University of the Philippines, hit CHED for not doing anything about the rising cost of education.  “CHED officials have repeatedly pointed to the Education Act of 1982 as the culprit to tuition increases.  The CHED does not have the political will to protect us from grand extortions,” she said.

Ramirez called for the intervention of the House of Representatives.  “We are seeking a House investigation of the violations committed by schools and the immediate review of the Education Act of 1982.” Bulatlat

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