THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHEd) has approved a 6-percent increase in tuition for incoming Thomasian freshmen while tuition in the higher levels will not increase in Academic Year 2018 to 2019.
Tuition for college freshmen will increase by P91 per lecture unit and P182 per laboratory unit. For Faculty of Civil Law freshmen, the increase is P153 per unit and for the Graduate School, P123 per unit.
Miscellaneous fees will go up by an average of P367.56.
Tuition for Grade 11 students of the Senior High School will increase by P1,920 while miscellaneous fees will increase by 4.05 percent or P150.
Incoming Grade 7 students of the UST Junior High School will pay an additional P4,274 in tuition and an additional P2.68 percent or P140 in miscellaneous fees.
Freshman tuition in the Education High School will go up by P1,005 while miscellaneous fees will go up by 2.67 percent or P102.
In a letter addressed to CHEd, Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. said the tuition hike would be used for the benefit of faculty members and University personnel in accordance with their collective bargaining agreements with the UST administration.
“Seventy percent of the incremental proceeds of tuition increases shall be used for the benefit of teaching and non-teaching personnel and other staff,” Dagohoy said in the letter.
“At least 20 percent of the tuition increment shall go to the improvement or modernization of buildings, equipment, libraries, laboratories, gymnasia and similar facilities and to the payment of other costs of operation of the University,” he added.
CHEd Memorandum Order 19 series of 2016 allows the University, as an autonomous higher education institution, to increase tuition even without the Commission’s permission.
Republic Act 6728 or the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teacher in Private Education Act requires the University to allocate 70 percent of the increase for the benefit of its teaching and non-teaching staff and 20 percent for the improvement of facilities.
Last academic year, CHEd approved a 5.02-percent hike despite.
Tuition increased by P138 per unit (or 9.96 percent) for freshmen, P97 per unit for second-year students and third-year students (7.02 percent), P131 per unit for fourth-year students (9.72 percent), and P130 per unit for fifth-year students (9.91 percent).
