CHED scholarships ongoing, only merit program suspended

MANILA – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Saturday clarified that its scholarships are continuous and that only a specific program was temporarily suspended due to lack of funds.

“Medyo naguluhan ‘yong pagkakalabas ng balita. Ang hindi lang po napondahan o kulang ang pondo na scholarship ng CHED ay ‘yong merit scholarship na binibigay based on grades (There must have been some confusion with the news. The only CHED scholarship that lacks fund is the merit-based scholarship),” CHED chair Prospero de Vera III said in a Laging Handa briefing.

The official clarified that there are numerous scholarships and programs sponsored by CHED, including the tertiary education subsidy, the Tulong Dunong, and grants for medical students and dependents of sugar workers.

“Hindi po apektado ‘yan, iyan po ay mayroong pondo (Those are not affected, we have fundings for them),” he said.

CHED’s Merit Scholarship is a yearly competitive scholarship given to students based on their grades from the previous school year and may be used for paying tuition, miscellaneous fees, and other education expenses of students.

De Vera noted that fundings for “continuing scholars” are intact and the suspension only covers new applications.

“Sinuspinde natin na tumanggap ng mga bagong applications sa CHED Merit scholarship dahil kulang po ang pondo, iyon lang po ang apektado (We temporarily stopped accepting new application because our fund was short but that’s the only program affected),” he said.

De Vera said only about 5,000 slots are affected compared to the number covered by CHED’s entire financial program, which could reach around 700,000 for combined beneficiaries of the tertiary education subsidy and the Tulong Dunong alone.

He said new students who were supposed to avail of the merit scholarship may apply for these two financial aids instead.