Profit-makers Produce Mediocre Graduates

If the average tuition rate increase of 12 percent continues for the next five years, the national average per unit would reach P590.20 by 2010. By then tuition would have increased by as high as 1,257.41 percent since 1990.

By Carl Marc Ramota
Contributed to Bulatlat
(Conclusion)

Many college students are dropping out of school, but there are no similar danger signs as far as some private universities and colleges are concerned. Their new corporate owners are raking in profits as they continue to hike tuition and other fees.

But the question is, do higher college costs mean quality education? Not necessarily, if recent reports about the results of board or licensure exams are any indication.

In the current schoolyear, 381 out of 1,321 private higher education institutions - or 29 percent of the total – have applied for tuition increase. The national average tuition increase is 11.37 percent or P33.15; the current rate per unit is P334.89.

In the National Capital Region, the average tuition is pegged at P614.54 posting a 10.83 percent increase compared to last year’s figures.

A study made by Anak ng Bayan Youth Party on the rising cost of tertiary education showed that in just five years, from academic year 2000-2001 to the present, the national average tuition rate has increased by as much as 63 percent. The National Capital Region (NCR) average rate, on the other hand, went up by 57 percent.

Based on the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) records on tuition increases, tuition was steadily increasing by an average of almost 12 percent for the last five years.

Deregulation of tuition

Raymond Palatino, vice president of Anak ng Bayan, blamed the Education Act of 1982 for the staggering tuition hikes in the last two decades. “By giving them a free hand in determining tuition rate, the Education Act effectively bestowed private school owners limitless powers,” he said.

Batas Pambansa (national law) No. 232, otherwise known as the Education Act of 1982, laid down the guidelines and regulations governing the collection and application of tuition and other fees by all educational institutions. In particular, Section 42 gave private schools a free hand in determining tuition rates thus allowing private schools to increase the fee every school year.

The deregulated environment set by the Act ensured the wholesale commodification of a fast-expanding private tertiary education, Palatino said.

“This was also the reason behind the unexpected collapse of the College Assurance Plan (CAP),” Palatino said. “CAP’s downfall merely highlights how the cost of education, particularly in the tertiary level, has dramatically increased after the deregulation of tuition.”

From 1990-1995 just before the Asian financial bubble burst in 1997, tuition jumped to 275 percent. For the last 15 years since 1990, tuition has swelled by a whopping 670 percent.

Anak ng Bayan projects that if the average tuition rate increase of 12 percent continues for the next five years, the national average per unit would reach P590.20 by 2010. By then tuition would have increased by as high as 1,257.41 percent since 1990.

But these figures only speak of the average tuition rate per unit in private schools. Most exclusive schools charge tuition five times higher than the average.

At present, Jose Rizal University (JRU) in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila imposes the highest tuition rate with P2,600 per unit. The runners-up include De La Salle University (DLSU)-Manila (P1,506/unit);  Asia Pacific College (P1,240/unit); and Mapua Institute of Technology (P1,254.64/unit).

Based on the average tuition increase every academic year in these schools, tuition per unit in JRU would reach P4,582.09 in five years; DLSU-Manila with P2,654.10; Asia Pacific College with P2,185.31; and MIT with P2,211.10. In 2010, a student with a full 21-unit load have to pay P96,223.89, P55,736.10, P45,891.51 and P46,433.10, respectively.

“Clearly, the relentless hikes in tuition and other fees have earned for private school owners millions of profits over the last two decades,” Palatino says. “This largely explains why some business tycoons like Lucio Tan and the Yuchengcos are now venturing into tertiary education.”

Most of these schools have consistently landed among the country’s top 1,000 corporations since 1996. By the end of 2003, nine schools were included in this list. Their combined profits amounted to P1.13 billion.

Private schools frequently listed among the top corporations in the country in terms of profit are the Centro Escolar University (CEU), MIT, Far Eastern University (FEU), UE, Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI), Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP), AMA Computer University and STI College.

Substandard education

So, does expensive education mean quality education? This is not so in the country: While the cost of tertiary education has increased, the results of the licensure examinations showed a continuous decline in the quality of higher education in the last few years. 

In 1995, the Task Force on Higher Education even said, “College education in the Philippines is comparable to top science high schools in the country and regular secondary education in Europe and Japan.” This comment is reflected by the pathetic results of annual licensure examinations.

In the list of most popular programs, according to CHED, are Teacher Education, Accountancy, Criminology, Marine Transportation and Electronic and Communications Engineering (ECE). However, records of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) show that only a fraction among the thousands who flock to these courses are able to attain their dream professional career.

The national passing average for these courses and for most programs offered in the Philippines has not even reached 50 percent. From 1997 to 2001, the passing rate for Accountancy was only 18.40 percent; Criminology was better with 47.60 percent; and ECE was the highest so far with 48.20 percent.

In the 2003 licensure exams, Accountancy remained the lowest at 19 percent. Teacher Education, both in basic and secondary level, had only a 26 percent passing rate.

So mediocre were the results that in the same year, CHED ordered the phasing out of 115 higher private institutions that had a five percent or lower passing rate in the licensure exams. Of these, only 17 schools have followed the order.

Some schools are offering programs without government permit. The most notorious of these, according to CHED, is the ABE international School of Business and Economics. ABE is currently offering degrees in Hotel and Restaurant Management, Business Administration, Tourism and Accountacy in its Caloocan, Taft and Makati branches with no standard permit from CHED.

Dim future

Palatino urged lawmakers to repeal the Education Act of 1982. “Our lawmakers must immediately act to stop these tuition and miscellaneous fee increases and put a moratorium on the proposed new round of hikes for the next school year. Unless the government starts to flex its muscles on these increases, we will be seeing a higher drop-out rate and bigger number of out-of-school youth in the next five years.”

Even CHED admits that “unless BP 232 (Education Act of 1982) is repealed or amended, the most viable course for all concerned is to take a close look at where the increases are going.”

“Unless the government reverses its present education policies and its thrust to hand over tertiary education to private sector and until it flexes its muscles to stop the incessant hikes in tuition and other fees, it will certainly bury the confidence, hopes and great faith of the Filipino youth and the nation for a brighter future ahead,” Palatino warned. Bulatlat