Palace: Gov’t expanding student financial assistance program to keep up with tuition hikes

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MANILA (PNA) — To keep up with college and university tuition hikes, Malacanang on Sunday said that the government continues to expand its student financial assistance program (stuFAP) for the Filipino youth’s benefit.

While the government has no control over private schools increasing tuition fees for grade and high school levels, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that an option for the poor is public school education.

“(Education) is free in our public schools,” Valte said in an interview on state-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.

As for colleges and universities, Valte assured that the Commission on Education (CHED) was doing its best to assure that all tuition hikes were reasonable and in accordance to rules set by CHED.

“For those who have little capacity to pay for their tuition, the government continues to expand its student financial assistance program,” she added.

During the last academic year, (2013 to 2014) it was reported that a total of 52,006 students benefited from the StuFAP.

Aside from the stuFAP, CHED also has Grants-in-Aid Program and Student Loan Programs like the Study-Now-Pay-Later Plan.

The government is also allocating funds for poor Muslim college students. (PNA)
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