04 April 2013, 7:31 p.m. – EDUCATION in UST will cost 2.5 percent more next semester.
Tuition will increase by P31.23 per unit to P1,280.23 for students in the second year and up, effective Academic Year 2013-2014, the administration has bared.
The original proposal was a 5 percent increase, but administrators decided to cut it by half following consultations with student leaders, deans, and University officials last Feb. 14 and 19.
Incoming Central Student Council president Miyuki Morishita said the increase was necessary to ensure that the University would continue to offer high-quality education despite rising costs.
“The tuition increase was not an easy decision to make,” Morishita said.
“As much as the administration wants a lower percentage of increase to accommodate the students and the growing financial crisis the Filipino families are being subjected to, apektado rin po ang ating Unibersidad ng mga suliraning ito,” she added.
By law, 70 percent of tuition increases must go to the salary increases of faculty members, while twenty percent must be used for the improvement and maintenance of school facilities. The remaining 10 percent serves as school owners’ return on investment.
Tuition hikes cannot go beyond the rate of inflation, or the increase in prices of consumer goods and services as measured by the consumer price index. Inflation stood at 3.2 percent as of February, data from the National Statistics Office showed.
The Varsitarian sought a breakdown of increases in miscellaneous fees, but the Office of the Vice Rector for Finance has yet to respond. Daphne J. Magturo