Senate approves bill waiving college entrance exam fees for qualified students

MANILA, Philippines — Qualified students applying for admission to private colleges and universities will no longer be required to pay for entrance exam fees under a new Senate bill greenlighted on final reading.

Senate Bill 2441 — unanimously approved on Monday — waives all college admission fees for college applicants from the top 10% of their graduating batch who fall below the poverty threshold.

To be exempted from paying admission fees in private colleges and universities, graduating high school students must have the following requirements:

Under the proposed law, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) would be able to impose penalties against private higher education institutions (HEIs) that will fail or refuse to comply with the guidelines.

The measure is aimed at benefiting “disadvantaged graduates or graduating students who show potential for academic excellence,” as noted by Sen. Chiz Escudero, chairperson of the Senate higher, technical and vocational education panel.

"This free exam can be a recruiting tool aimed at the best and the brightest," Escudero added.

Since the implementation of Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act in 2018, there has been a noticeable shift in the distribution of enrollment in private and public colleges and universities, according to CHED.

The ratio used to be 70-30 in favor of private schools, but currently, more than 50% of students flock to SUCs, CHED Chairperson Popoy De Vera said in August.

This is even as private schools outnumber public colleges and universities sevenfold: there are 1,729 private universities compared to 112 SUCs and 121 local colleges and universities, as of 2019 CHED data. — Cristina Chi