Duterte signs bill granting free tuition in SUCs

MANILA -  President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the bill granting free tuition in state colleges and universities, Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.

Duterte signed the law ahead of the 30-day period given under the Constitution before the bill lapses into a law.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, reacting to the passage of the bill, emphasized that it will be "prospective, not retroactive."

He said he will first have to estimate the cost of the program's implementation in the first semester of school year 2018-2019 to determine how much can be funded from the 2018 budget.

"We may have to consider disallowing use of income by SUCs. If worse comes to worst, we may consider asking for supplemental budget," he said in a statement.

The President signed the bill despite the reluctance of some members of his economic team on the proposed measure due to the cost that will be entailed in funding free tertiary education.

Guevarra, however, said the President considered the long-term benefits that the free tuition and other fees will give to the public.

“Free tertiary education in SUCs is a very strong pillar or cornerstone of the President’s social development policy,” Guevarra said in a news conference in Pasay City.

“He weighed everything and came to the conclusion that the long-term benefits that will be derived from the well-developed tertiary education on the part of the citizenry will definitely outweigh any short-term budgetary challenges.”

Diokno earlier said the government may not be able to shoulder the cost of granting free tuition in SUCs. He said the government may have to shell out P100 billion annually if the bill passes into law.

Guevarra, however, said Diokno’s estimate may have been based on the the assumption that all the aspects of the law, including the non-mandatory provisions, will be implemented all at the same time.

Citing data from the Commission on Higher Education, Guevarra said an initial amount of P16 billion may be needed to fund the mandatory provisions of the law, such as the grant of free tuition and miscellaneous fees.

“That’s manageable,” he said in a chance interview.

He added that Congress, which is now deliberating the proposed budget for 2018, will now have to put into consideration the newly passed law.

“The President has already submitted the National Expenditure Program, but during the budget deliberations, anything can still happen. Certain adjustments can be made, possibly a reallocation can be done,” Guevarra said.

He added the government is also hoping to get official development assistance and grants from local and international donors for the implementation of the law.

While the law will take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation, the benefits under it may be felt in the next enrolment.

Guevarra said the grant of other educational expenses such as books, board and lodging, student loans, and scholarships, will have to be subsidized by a fund to be established by the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UNIFAST) board.

“As far as I understand, these are not the mandatory provisions. When the student enrols in a state college, it does not mean he will have all of this at the same time,” he said.

He also noted that those who will be given free educational expenses apart from tuition should belong to the “bottom 20 percent” of the student population.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

3 Unconventional Ways to Graduate College with Less Debt

The cost of college tuition has increased so much in recent years that the value of a college diploma is now in question. However, despite the cost, a college degree is still a prerequisite to getting hired in many fields. To companies, college is more than just the diploma; it is a valuable life experience. By graduating, you are demonstrating that you are self-motivated, can manage your time effectively, work well with others, speak and write clearly and possess many other fundamental skills that employers seek when filling open positions.

 In addition, college is not just about figuring out what you want to do, but who you want to be and how to get there. So, before deciding that the cost of tuition puts college out of your reach, read on for some unconventional ways to get a degree without incurring an unmanageable price tag.

Do your homework and get hired FIRST

Recent high school graduates oftentimes don’t realize that many large employers will finance all or part of your education as part of your benefits package. That’s right; a college education courtesy of your employer. This option means you will be busy, working and taking classes in your spare time. However, chances are if you are reading this article you were planning on working while attending school anyway. Rather than take the first restaurant server job you're offered, do your homework and find a job in a company that values educated employees. An added bonus is that by the time you graduate, you'll have years worth of solid work experience - a quality that many recent college graduates lack and could put you ahead of the competition for your dream job.

Taking this idea one step further, if you can find a staff job at a college that allows employees to attend classes, working on campus will make this process very convenient and you'll be able to get more involved in the typical college experience. 

Start smaller

Start your college career at a community college. More and more community colleges and universities are teaming up to make transitions from one to the other natural and seamless.  The classes will be small, the experience less overwhelming and the tuition rates are often half the cost of a university. When you finish your two year degree, transfer to the university for another two years and by the time you are finished, you’ll have a bachelor’s degree for a fraction of the cost your fellow graduates paid (or will pay depending on their loan situation).

Start earlier

If you are still in high school, check to see if your school has reciprocal agreements with colleges that allow you to take college courses while in high school for little or no cost. You could graduate high school with college credits without shelling out a dime.

A college education is an investment that doesn't have to be a burden. Don’t let short term financial realities affect your long term goals.

source: infobarrel.com

Sending your kid away to college

College-bound teen Shannon Murray — by her mother’s estimation — is “bubbly, trusting, outgoing and befriends absolutely everyone.” As the San Diego high schooler prepared to head off for her freshman year at Arizona State University, her mom, Ann, sat her down for a heart-to-heart.

The topic? The things a college coed never does at a frat party. Rule No. 1: Don’t let friends leave without you.

To make sure the rules stuck, Ann Murray gave her daughter pop quizzes to earn little rewards. “We’d be driving around and I’d say, ‘OK, for a Starbucks latte, what are the five things?’”

Ah, it’s off-to-college time, when parents grapple with a crazy-making mixture of anxiety, fear and excitement. It can all seem overwhelming. Will my son get along with his roommate? Can my daughter still take the placement test she missed? Will my child make new friends?

In the months and weeks leading up to the start of school — when filing deadlines loom and forms pile up on the kitchen table like unpaid bills — moms and dads are often frustrated that “their child is not getting organized,” said Christine Schelhas-Miller, co-author of “Don’t Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Parenting Guide to College Years” (St. Martin’s Press, 2000).

“The admissions process is over and the child is breathing a sigh of relief. They’re hanging out with their high school friends, acting as though they don’t have a care in the world,” Schelhas-Miller said. Parents can be tempted to micromanage. But it’s a bad idea. Schelhas-Miller said parents should instead be transitioning from the role of “supervisor” to that of their child’s “consultant.”

“It’s passing the baton,” added Karen Levin Coburn, author of “Letting Go: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years” (HarperCollins, 2009). Children need to be “responsible for their own education. It’s [the] simple things — ‘You’re supposed to fill out your housing form. I’m not going to fill it out for you.’”

Thanks to the Internet, parents have more opportunities to connect with other parents. Many colleges even sponsor online parents’ networks. Suzy Keleher of Garden Grove used Humboldt State’s parents’ network to look for carpooling opportunities to get daughter Kira (and her rather large harp) up to the campus in Arcata.

Colleges also communicate with parents via email. Such online tools “help parents navigate the university from a distance,” said Jennifer Hightower, associate vice president of student services at Arizona State University.

Of course, face-to-face communication is always best. Larry Cohn of Orange, father of Arizona State senior Ben, rounded up a dozen or so fellow ASU parents from Southern California for a pizza one night. “We all had a great time and talked about our experiences. If somebody had a problem, somebody else would come up with a solution,” Cohn said.

Money is also a major stress factor, especially in today’s gloomy economic climate. Parents should realize that college-bound seniors are young adults capable of facing harsh economic realities, experts say, so it’s important to talk openly and honestly about family finances. Coburn suggests being direct, telling kids: “This is what we can afford to pay, how much we can borrow and how much you will have to earn in the summer or at a work-study job.”

Each family has to work out the credit-card question in its own way. But it’s generally a bad idea to hand out plastic with no set limits, Schelhas-Miller noted. A better idea might be a debit card with a certain amount deposited each month, or a credit card that is only for academic expenses, not “pizza on Saturday night,” she added. “It’s a matter of spelling out expectations.”

No matter how much parents gird themselves, it can be emotionally wrenching to send a child away to college. When Keleher dropped off Kira — her youngest of three — at Humboldt State for the first time, she held back the tears because “I wanted her to see me with a smiling face. But once I got out of there, I was wailing.”

It helps if parents realize that they’re not letting go. “They’re just moving to the sidelines and watching a little from afar,” said Penny Rue, vice chancellor of student affairs at UC San Diego. The good news is that research shows that most UCSD students are in daily or weekly contact with their parents, she added.

Connie Cirimeli of Walnut Creek and daughter Micaela, who will be a freshman at UC Davis this fall, are the kind of mother and teen who like to share details of each other’s day.

To keep the communication lines open when Micaela is away at school, the pair has penciled in Skype dates each Sunday at 6 p.m. — a sort of virtual family dinner.

Keeping in close contact is always a good idea, but knowing how to effectively communicate is the key. “The biggest mistake is when parents tell their college student what to do rather than listen and then help figure out how to solve the problem,” Schelhas-Miller said. “Do [the students] need more information? How can they get that? What resources are there on campus? Can they go to an advisor?

“Another issue is kids will often call their parents and do what we call the ‘stress dump’ to unload their frustrations,” Schelhas-Miller added. “They’re upset about things. But parents should not instantly call the school and try to solve the problem. They should be helping the kid figure out how to solve the problem.”

Figuring out what to pack for a dorm or apartment can be a headache. Taking too much is a common mistake. At San Francisco State, students “are coming with Costco-size packages of things. One year we collected 54 boxes of unused Swiffer refills,” said Jim Bolinger, SFSU’s director of school property management.

Before making that trip to the big-box store for school supplies, wait until your child is assigned a roommate, then have the pair decide who brings what.

“You don’t need to bring two televisions and stereos,” Rue said. San Francisco State encourages students to pack sustainable items like reusable water bottles and plastic storage containers instead of cardboard boxes. Or a personal coffee mug that can be refilled for a discount at the campus’ java joint.

And as for Ann Murray’s frat party rules: Shannon got her latte after passing her pop quiz with flying colors.

“It’s like you do your best to give your kid swimming lessons,” Murray said. “But at some point you have to throw them in the water and see if they can swim.”

source: latimes.com

Student leaders ask DBM to increase budget of state colleges

MANILA, Philippines - Student leaders from different state universities and colleges (SUCs) went to the office of Department of Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad on Friday to lobby for higher budget for SUCs as the group maintained that the Aquino administration still underspent when it came to higher education.

The group, representing the SUC Budget Watch Alliance, Akbayan Youth and the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP), the largest student council in the country, said the crisis in education will remain a problem if the fundamental issue of budget is not properly addressed.

Although Budget Secretary Abad was supposed to participate in the dialogue, he however sent his apologies to the group for not attending because he had an urgent meeting to finalize the 2013 national budget. Present in the dialogue were assistant secretary Luz M. Cantor, chief budget and management specialist Dante De Chavez and regional director Ruby Esteban.

The student leaders stressed that quality, relevant and accessible public tertiary education would be impossible without sufficient support from the government.

“We call on this administration to heed the call of the youth and students to give greater premium to education, and prioritization of education should never discriminate tertiary education,” said Heart Diño, chairperson of UP Diliman student council and SCAP-NCR.

“If SUCs were forced to be self-sufficient, they will not achieve their inherent goal of providing education to those who are most in need -- the underprivileged and poor families in our society,” Diño added.

“Inadequate facilities, few teaching personnel – these are some of the problems that SUCs are currently facing, resulting in tuition increases and disturbing the creation of more income generating projects to sustain the school’s operation. With this current situation, our government should provide higher budget for SUCs,” quipped Akbayan Youth’s Marian Bahalla.

UP system needs P18.4 billion

Jason Alacapa, UP Manila student council chairperson, said, “Insufficient funding of UP negatively affects its capacity to fulfill its mandate as a national university. According to DBM, UP will receive a higher budget this year amounting to almost P10.8 billion, but it is still far from the P18.4 billion that UP system would need to properly manage its campuses nationwide.”

He mentioned that the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), which gets a share in the UP system budget, only receives about 60% of what it needs in relation to its annual expenditure.

"Due to this, free services for patients earning below P7,500 a month are almost scrapped,” Alacapa added.

AR Angcos, president of Philippine Normal University (PNU), argued that classes in the university are being merged since the school's budget is not enough to hire additional teaching personnel. He said there are not enough adequate facilities for ICT training to make future teachers technologically competitive.

“As the government has shown its commitment to progress in terms of education, it’s at the same time sending a wrong message by drastically lowering the budget of the country’s best source of quality teachers, which is PNU,” Angcos continued.

The group also rationalized the need for additional budget for other SUCs especially those that are Centers for Excellence and Centers for Development sucj as Mindanao State University and Central Luzon State University.

School in Pag-asa Island

The group likewise asked for sufficient funding support for the Pag-asa Elementary School, a new school being built in Pag-asa Island, one of the disputed islands in the Spratly group of islands in the West Philippine Sea.

Jana Cabuhat, national chairperson of the SCAP, said: “Students are forced to go to mainland Palawan to attend classes because Kalayaan town has no schools. Now that the local government is putting up its own elementary school, DBM should fully support the initiative.”

The group concluded the meeting by asking the DBM officials to allocate appropriate budget increases for SUCs and to lay down a progressive reform agenda for the education sector that does not discriminate against tertiary education.

There was also a clarification with regard to the increase in the budget of SUCs. This is due to the “roadmap” presented by the Commission on Higher Education.

In parting, the group successfully got the commitment of the officials to implement the coordination for the SUC budget process and for the creation of an alternative budget for SUCs.

source: interaksyon.com

Common Application

Common Application is regulated towards helping students find and apply to Colleges and Universities online. Common Application will be used by 392 Colleges and Universities for admissions and 122 will use it exclusively for students to lessen the number of separate applications a student applying to many colleges would have to complete. Students will need name and address of any high schools they have studied or attended as well as email address of those from whom they plan to seek teacher's report and assessment.


Common Application form that students can review to understand what information they will need to complete the application.