For many college students, the final year is supposed to be the last stretch before earning a diploma. But for financially struggling families, even reaching graduation can come down to one question: How will the next school expense be paid?
In Nueva Ecija, a government scholarship initiative is giving students facing that reality a much-needed chance to finish.
One of them is Nierheyza Andasan, 22, a fourth-year Bachelor of Secondary Education student at Eduardo L. Joson Memorial College in Palayan City. Her family depends on her father’s construction work, making everyday school expenses difficult to sustain.
Andasan said financial hardship had previously made her consider stopping her studies.
That changed when she became one of five Presidential Scholars in Barangay Aulo under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s Bawat Barangay Makikinabang Program.
The scholarship provides ₱20,000 in educational assistance to each qualified student—money that can go toward transportation, instructional materials, uniforms and other school requirements.
For Andasan, the amount represents more than financial relief. It gives her another opportunity to stay in school and work toward the degree she hopes will help her family.
Why the ₱20,000 assistance matters
The scholarship is part of the national Bawat Barangay Makikinabang Program, which was rolled out in 2026 as a grassroots assistance initiative.
Under the program, each of the country’s roughly 42,000 barangays is allocated ₱200,000. Half—or ₱100,000—is intended for five qualified student beneficiaries, with each receiving ₱20,000. The remaining ₱100,000 can be used for barangay-identified development priorities.
The program is specifically designed to help students who are nearing graduation but are vulnerable to dropping out because of financial difficulties.
President Marcos has emphasized that the objective is not simply to provide cash, but to help students reach the finish line and earn their degrees.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government’s implementing guidelines further identify vulnerable households and students at risk of dropping out among the groups to be prioritized. Students from families with no member who has completed tertiary education are also given priority.
Nueva Ecija shows what the program looks like on the ground
The experience in Barangay Aulo illustrates how the national program is being translated into direct assistance at the community level.
Barangay officials said applicants submitted enrollment certificates and academic records, but the selection process also considered their families’ financial circumstances. Priority was given to students with limited or unstable household income and those without a family member who had completed college.
Officials also said the scholars’ progress would be monitored through regular meetings and updates to their school records.
For the barangay, the program is therefore not only about handing out educational assistance. It also creates a mechanism for local officials to identify students who could be at risk of abandoning their education before graduation.
The program is bigger than Nueva Ecija
The Nueva Ecija experience is part of a much wider rollout.
President Marcos announced in May that more than 200,000 college students nationwide could benefit from the scholarship component of Bawat Barangay Makikinabang. With five scholars allocated per barangay, the program was designed to reach students across communities rather than concentrate assistance in major urban centers.
The rollout has also produced similar stories elsewhere.
In Pampanga, for example, 58 barangays received a combined ₱11.6 million under the program. Each barangay received ₱200,000, with ₱100,000 earmarked for five college scholarships and the other half for community priorities.
In Aurora, graduating Environmental Science student Mark Ken Ricafort likewise said the scholarship eased the financial pressure of completing college. Ricafort had been living independently and taking part-time construction work to cover his allowance and school-related expenses before receiving assistance through the program.
And in Cagayan, the government reported that about 4,100 students were expected to benefit from the scholarship component across the province.
These cases point to the same problem: for students already close to graduation, relatively modest financial assistance can make the difference between finishing a degree and being forced to stop.
A scholarship aimed at the finish line
Unlike scholarships primarily designed to recruit students into college, the Bawat Barangay Makikinabang scholarship has a strong “finisher” focus.
The implementing framework prioritizes incoming fourth-year college students for School Year 2026–2027, particularly those from vulnerable households and those at risk of dropping out. Students in their fifth or sixth year may also qualify if they are graduating during the school year.
That focus is significant.
A student who has already spent several years completing a degree may have accumulated transportation, school-material, food and other everyday expenses. Losing financial support during the final stretch can put years of study at risk.
For students such as Andasan, the ₱20,000 assistance therefore represents a final push—not a shortcut.
For one Nueva Ecija student, the goal is simple
Andasan’s story ultimately comes down to a goal shared by thousands of other struggling college students: finish school, earn a degree and build a better future for her family.
The scholarship cannot erase the financial challenges her family faces. But it can remove one obstacle standing between her and graduation.
And as more barangays implement the program, the bigger question is no longer simply how many students receive assistance.
It is whether that assistance will help the students who were once thinking of giving up stay in school long enough to finally walk across the graduation stage.
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