By Luel Galarpe/Philippine News Agency
CEBU CITY – Sixty-nine percent of college students enrolled in Central Visayas are recipients of the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
CHED-Central Visayas Regional Director Dr. Maximo Aljibe said Tuesday that 101,269 of the 228,859 students enrolled in higher education institutions for school year 2018-2019 in the region are UniFAST grantees.
“More than PHP2 billion have been allocated for our FHE (Free Higher Education) and TES (Tertiary Education Subsidy) programs for Academic Year 2018-19 here in Region 7,” said Aljibe during the Association of Government Information Officers-Philippine Information Agency (AGIO-PIA) 7 forum.
Aljibe said PHP1.3 million has been allocated for the FHE and PHP816,666,400 for the TES program.
Scholars under the FHE are provided free tuition, miscellaneous, and other school fees in state universities and colleges (SUC) and CHED-recognized local universities and colleges (LUC). Meanwhile, TES grantees will receive financial assistance for other educational expenses aside from free tuition and school fees benefits.
Aljibe said the budget for scholarship grants is now at PHP50 billion for the 2019-2020 school year and he hopes more students will avail of the CHED’s UniFAST program.
Regional UniFAST coordinator Humabon Marollano said 85,240 students in the region have availed of free higher education in SUCs and LUCs, while 16,017 students have benefited from the Tertiary Education Subsidy.
Marollano said each TES grantee enrolled in private schools were provided PHP60,000 financial assistance, while those enrolled in SUCs or LUCs received PHP40,000 each.
“Grantees enrolled in private schools are those residing in areas with no state or local universities and colleges,” Marollano explained.
The UniFAST is one of the core programs under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, or Republic Act No. 10931, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2017.
For the latest updates about this story, visit the Philippine News Agency website
