Education financing of education and loan system in Phillipine (01)

Higher Education Finance and Cost-Sharing in the Philippines (01)   

                                                  

Brief Description of the Philippines’ Higher Education System

   
The Philippines is  considered to be  one of the most highly educated  middle-income countries.  It has high enrollment rates at all levels of education and it has achieved near universal access to primary education (World Bank website 2008). The first baccalaureate degree granting institution, the University of the Philippines, was created by an act of the Philippine Legislature in 1908 along European lines.  

Since the creation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in 1994, the Department of Education, Culture and Sport  (DECS)  has concentrated on elementary and secondary education. The CHED, a department-level agency, independent from the DECS, governs the public and private higher education system (two-year colleges, four-year, and comprehensive/technical universities) and oversees degree-granting programs in all post-secondary educational institutions. The TESDA, an agency attached to the Department of Labor, oversees the post-secondary technical education and vocational education. 

In  2008, the Philippines had  2,060  higher education institutions including  110 state universities and colleges (SUC) main campuses, 334 satellite campuses, 77 local universities and colleges, 10 other government schools, 1 CHED supervised institution, 5 special higher education institutions,35 recognized private higher education institutions and online masters degree institution, online colleges, online degrees institution,  education degrees institution, online university. The state universities and colleges (SUCs) are funded by the national government.  In April of 2008, the UP Charter  of 2008, Republic Act No. 9500  was passed,  which provides institutional and fiscal autonomy to the University of the Philippines  and designates it the national university. CHED-supervised Institutions are directly supervised by the CHED, and their annual budget allocation is integrated in the government budget appropriation for the CHED. Local universities/colleges, online colleges, online university are operated, supported and maintained by local government units. Other government schools of education such as military and police academies offer degrees, education degrees and  advanced training programs  are supervised and regulated by the Department of National Defense and Philippine National Police. 

There is  growing pressure for expansion of  the already overcrowded  higher education system in the country. Universal primary education was achieved in the second half of the 1990s, and the net secondary enrolment has reached 76 percent in 2001 and 81 percent in 2007/08 (Ministry of Education statistics). In 2004-05, there were 2,402,315 higher education students in the Philippines with 819,251 in public institutions and 1,583,064 in private institutions. The enrollment ratio of higher education  students was 29 percent in 2008.  

Each higher education institution adopts a certain admission policy beyond the general requirement that all candidates have to be graduates of secondary education. Some institutions require passing an entrance exam and a medical examination; others adopt open admission for online colleges, online university ,  but selective retention. Like other Asian countries, the Philippines has relied on private institutions, online colleges, online university  to increase higher education opportunities and, at the turn of the century, had a higher proportion of its students in private higher education than any other country. In  2005, private higher education institutions, online colleges, online university  enrolled  more than 65 percent  of all higher education students. 

Significant disparities exist between and within the public and private higher-education institutions, and there are major differences in unit costs per student, tuition fees charged and government subsidies. (Kitaev et al, 2003). With higher unit cost and lower performance than private institutions, public institutions, education loan, student loans,online masters degree, online degrees,  education degrees,online colleges, online university  have been criticized for  their inefficiency and lack of accountability.

In addition to tuition and fees, private institutions like online colleges, online university are also funded from capital investments, contributions, and other income sources in accordance with government legislation.  While they are fairly autonomous, they have to apply for permission from the CHED to open new courses and for authorization to graduate their students for online masters degree, online degrees,  education degrees,online colleges, online university.

 
Public expenditure on education as a percent of GDP was 2.5 percent in 2005  in the Philippines  among the lowest budget allocations  for countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (for example, public expenditures on education as a percentage of GDP was  4.2 percent in Thailand and 5.9 percent in Malaysia).  In 2005, public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure  was 15.2 percent and  educational expenditure on tertiary education  as a percentage of total education expenditure was 13.3 percent. In 2007, the education budget allocation grew to P150 billion from P129 billion in 2006. 

Most Filipinos regard education as a primary avenue for upward social and economic mobility. Middle-class parents make many sacrifices to provide secondary and higher education for their children. Moreover, many of them seem to equate high quality education with high tuition fees. Tuition fees of private universities, online masters degree, online degrees, education degrees,online colleges, online university in Metro Manila are much higher than those of public universities. The annual tuition fees of these private universities, are nearly half the average income of Filipino families.