UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES SYSTEM INFORMATION OFFICE
17 December 2013 For Immediate Press Release UP unveils new socialized tuition system Reference: Dr. Prospero E. de Vera Vice President for Public Affairs Tel. No. 63-9178074722
The University of the Philippines recently unveiled a new socialized tuition system that will speed-up the processing of tuition bracket applications, adjust income brackets of student applicants, and increase the stipend of poor students in the premier university of the country. The Socialized Tuition System (STS) replaces the old Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) established in 1989 which has been criticized for its long and tedious application process, mismatches between assigned brackets and the actual financial capacity of students, and inadequate benefits for those in the lowest income bracket. UP President Alfredo E. Pascual spearheaded this reform effort when he assumed office believing that the old tuition system is no longer responsive to the needs of UP students. According to Pascual, “the STFAP was established in 1989 as part of UP's effort to democratize access to its academic programs while promoting fairness and social justice in the university. It was a program intended to make UP education affordable, despite tuition increases for students, particularly those from poor families.” However, over the years, implementation problems and conceptual issues have masked the merits of the program. The major changes in the tuition system include simplifying the basis for assignment of tuition brackets, inflation adjustment of income cut-offs for bracketing, increase in monthly stipend of students belonging to low income households, and streamlining of bracket assignment and appeal process. The changes will initially apply to incoming freshmen for academic year 2014-15. Using a new model developed by the Marketing and Opinion Research Society of the Philippines (MORES) for socioeconomic classification of Philippine households, the STS will reduce the 14-page application form used in the previous STFAP into 2 pages. To make bracket assignment easier, the STS will, as a second major change, reduce the number of indicators used for bracketing the students applying for STS assistance from four to two: the MORES instrument and the student’s declared household income.
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