17 WV colleges ask for tuition fee hike
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) recorded a whooping 467% increase in the number of higher education institutions in Western Visayas that wanted to increase their tuition for school year 2010-2011.
CHED assistant regional director Engr. Rex Casiple said that seventeen colleges in the region submitted their intention to raise tuition fee, as opposed to 3 last year.
Of the said number, seven are from Bacolod City, 5 from Iloilo City, 2 from Negros Occidental, and one each from Aklan, Roxas City, and Guimaras.
In Iloilo City, the University of Iloilo, St. Paul University of Iloilo, Western Institute of Technology, John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University–Molo Campus, and John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University–Arevalo Campus.
It was gathered that Riverside College and University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City were the two schools which ask for increase last year and again asked for increase this year.
Casiple said that three reasons were cited for the increase: increase of salary of teachers/staff; improvement or modernization of physical facilities; and increase in the maintenance and cost of operating expenses.
He added that computed average of increase prior to consultation is 6%.
Both the Central Philippine Adventist College in Murcia, Negros Occidental and the University of St. La Salle (USLS) asked the biggest, at 10%, tuition fee increase.
But Casiple said that USLS might lower it to 6%.
In school year 2008-2009, twenty schools increased their tuition fee at an average of 8%.
The following year, only 3 schools hiked their tuition fee. This was an offshoot to the appeal to private schools and order for state colleges and universities of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stop tuition fee increase.
Meanwhile, Casiple said that they could turn down the request if the schools fail to comply with the requirements.
“We can’t dictate the percentage of increase. On our part, we will just process application to see to it that they all requirement. Once followed, especially with the holding of the consultation, the CHED could not do anything about it,” he stressed.
Once followed, especially with the holding of the consultation, Casiple said that CHED could not do anything about it.
“Once the consultation was held, we presumed that the school administration came up with an agreement with representatives from the student organizations, alumni, and faculty, among others,” Casiple noted.
The CHED will just be present as an observer.
Further, Casiple said that it is not yet sure if all 17 schools could indeed hike their tuition fee because it is also possible that the school administration and representatives from either from either the student, alumni, or faculty would not agree during the consultation.
