MANILA, Philippines — Free college students are not being asked to pay higher tuition. But the Philippine government may have to spend billions more if it wants state universities and colleges to keep providing tuition-free education without sacrificing classrooms, teachers, equipment and academic quality.
TINGOG Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, chairperson of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, is pushing for a review of the government reimbursement rates paid to State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) under the Free Higher Education program.
During deliberations on the Commission on Higher Education’s proposed 2027 budget, Acidre raised the possibility of establishing a more realistic and relatively uniform rate of at least ₱200 per unit for SUCs.
The crucial point for students: the proposed adjustment is not supposed to be charged to them.
Under Republic Act No. 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, qualified Filipino undergraduate students enrolled in SUCs and CHED-recognized Local Universities and Colleges are exempt from tuition and covered school fees. The government shoulders the cost through the Free Higher Education program.
Why does the government want to review the rates?
CHED data presented during the budget discussions showed a striking gap in the tuition rates used by different state universities.
Some SUCs reportedly have rates of only around ₱50 per unit, while others have rates reaching approximately ₱1,000 per unit. Acidre argued that very low and outdated rates can leave universities receiving reimbursements that no longer reflect the actual cost of running laboratories, classrooms, libraries, student services and other university operations.
CHED Chairperson Shirley Agrupis said the commission is studying a multi-year fee proposal as officials examine how funding can better reflect the real financial requirements of public universities.
And the price tag of even a relatively modest adjustment is significant.
According to Agrupis, raising reimbursement to ₱200 per unit for 94 SUCs currently below that level would require roughly ₱2.4 billion in additional government funding.
That money would come from government — not from students covered by the free higher education law.
The bigger problem: State universities are getting crowded
The debate goes far beyond accounting rates.
CHED also disclosed that 68% of the 541 SUCs and campuses included in its initial enrollment-capacity simulation had already exceeded their estimated capacity.
That raises a difficult question for the country’s free-college program: What happens when more students can enter university, but campuses do not gain classrooms, professors, laboratories and equipment at the same pace?
Acidre warned that insufficient reimbursements could eventually affect the ability of state universities to accommodate students while maintaining education standards.
Journal News, reporting on the same budget hearing, said Acidre also pointed to a projected ₱28-billion funding deficiency under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education program, warning that persistent funding gaps could eventually force institutions to make enrollment decisions based on the resources they actually have.
In other words, making tuition free solves only one side of the problem. Universities still have to pay faculty, maintain laboratories, expand classrooms, upgrade equipment and provide services to a growing student population.
Government recently released ₱9.753 billion for 108 SUCs
The proposed reimbursement reform comes just weeks after the Department of Budget and Management released ₱9.753 billion to CHED to address Free Higher Education funding deficiencies involving 108 State Universities and Colleges.
According to DBM, the release covers validated obligations accumulated during Academic Years 2022–2023, 2023–2024 and 2024–2025. UniFAST is tasked with facilitating the corresponding releases to the affected institutions.
Acidre welcomed that release but said delays in reimbursements can place significant pressure on universities that must continue serving students while waiting for government payments.
The House of Representatives similarly noted that delayed reimbursements force SUCs to stretch limited resources across classrooms, laboratories, libraries, research, faculty development and student services.
The issue is especially significant as the government prepares its 2027 spending plan. DBM said the proposed budget includes ₱27.44 billion for UAQTE requirements of SUCs, alongside other higher-education allocations.
Does this mean free college is ending?
No.
Nothing in Acidre’s proposal would automatically require qualified students to begin paying tuition.
RA 10931 remains the legal foundation of the Free Higher Education program, under which eligible students in SUCs and recognized LUCs are exempt from paying tuition and specified school fees.
What lawmakers and CHED are discussing is essentially the amount government should reimburse universities for educating those students.
That distinction matters.
A ₱200-per-unit reimbursement rate may sound like a tuition increase when viewed from the outside, but for students covered by free higher education, the proposal is intended to change the amount paid by the government to the university, not the amount collected from the student.
The real test for free college
The Philippines has already made college dramatically more accessible by removing tuition costs for millions of students in public higher education.
The next challenge may be harder: making sure universities can afford the success of that policy.
If enrollment continues growing while reimbursements, infrastructure and staffing fail to keep pace, campuses could face larger classes, stretched faculty, equipment shortages and increasingly limited space.
That is the argument behind Acidre’s push.
Free tuition, he maintains, cannot simply mean getting students through the university gates. The government must also make sure the schools receiving them have enough money to provide the quality of education the law promised.
And with 68% of the SUCs and campuses in CHED’s initial assessment already estimated to be beyond enrollment capacity, the debate over an extra ₱2.4 billion may ultimately be about something much bigger than tuition rates: whether the Philippines can keep free college both free and sustainable.
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