DBM releases P9.75B for free education
He said the release would ease the financial pressure on SUCs, which had previously absorbed the FHE costs using their institutional resources.
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He said the release would ease the financial pressure on SUCs, which had previously absorbed the FHE costs using their institutional resources.
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The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P9.753 billion to fund Free Higher Education costs incurred by 108 state universities and colleges (SUCs) for academic years 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.
The DBM said Sunday that the funds would cover arrears incurred by SUCs in implementing the government’s Free Higher Education (FHE) Program. The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), through the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, will facilitate the release to the beneficiary institutions.
“Every peso in the national budget has competing demands. Our responsibility is to make sure that limited government resources are directed where they are most needed, without compromising other equally important programs and services,” DBM Acting Secretary Kim Robert C. de Leon said.
He said the release would ease the financial pressure on SUCs, which had previously absorbed the FHE costs using their institutional resources.
The additional fiscal space could allow SUCs to strengthen academic and research programs, improve student services, upgrade laboratories, libraries and information technology resources, maintain learning facilities and support medical, dental, guidance, athletic and cultural services.
The funds may also be used, subject to budgeting, accounting and auditing rules and fund availability, for the rehabilitation, improvement or expansion of academic and other university facilities.
The FHE Program was established under Republic Act 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which provides free tuition and other school fees in SUCs and CHEd-recognized local universities and colleges.
The DBM said the P9.753 billion release to CHEd is chargeable against its built-in appropriations under the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act and the Special Account in the General Fund-Higher Education Development Fund.
