THE University will again offer all 53 undergraduate programs for Academic Year 2018-2019, two years after it cut the programs to only 13 because of the implementation of the K to 12 basic education reform.
UST Office for Admissions Assistant Director Gezzez Giezi Granado said the office was prepared to accept applicants for next academic year.
“As far as the Office for Admissions is concerned, the two-year period (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) when there are limited applicants for college, is already over. We are done with it and we are now prepared to accept applicants for 2018-2019 wherein, we are ushering the first batch of graduates of Grade 12,” he told the Varsitarian in an email interview.
In the last two academic years, the University offered only accountancy, architecture, business administration major in financial management, business administration major in marketing management, communication arts, computer science, information technology, journalism, legal management medical technology, music, music major in music education, pharmacy, physical education major in sports and wellness, and political science.
The College of Science has added three major tracks under its biology program this academic year: medical biology, industrial biology and environmental biology.
Science Dean John Donnie Ramos said the “ever-changing” field of biology brought about the addition of the three major tracks.
“We have to evolve because biology is constantly evolving and there are new discoveries, better technologies and changes in the biological sciences every day,” Ramos said in an email interview.
Medical biology will have introductory courses that will train students who are interested in specializing in the medical field, while industrial biology will offer courses in line with the demands of industry, such as biotechnology and research.
Environmental biology will provide courses suited to students who want to pursue fields related to environment preservation and protection, biodiversity studies, zoos, aquaculture and agriculture. The new tracks will not affect undergraduate students.
“The old students will still be using the old curriculum until they graduate,” Ramos said.
The new biology curriculum will be offered to graduates of senior high schools under the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and Health Sciences strand starting 2018.
Last academic year, UST welcomed 7,915 freshmen — 2,957 college students and 4,958 senior high school students.
The decision to cut the number of programs offered was in anticipation of the expected low number of enrollees during the K to 12 transition. with reports from Mia Arra C. Camacho and Jacob Marvin D. Urmenita
