MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed a new law expanding government assistance for financially disadvantaged Filipinos pursuing college and technical-vocational education, with qualified students from poor households set to receive stronger priority for education subsidies.
Republic Act No. 12325, or the Act Enhancing the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, was signed by Marcos at Malacañang on September 4. The measure amends Republic Act No. 10931, the 2017 law that established free tuition and other school fees in public higher education and state-run technical-vocational institutions.
But the new measure goes beyond simply keeping tuition free.
Poorest students given stronger priority
One of the most significant changes is the strengthened targeting of the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES).
Qualified students from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) households will receive priority for tertiary education subsidies. Remaining slots will be allocated according to household income and other eligibility requirements.
The change responds to concerns that students from the poorest families were not receiving a proportionate share of government education assistance.
Data cited by the Second Congressional Commission on Education showed that the share of TES beneficiaries from the poorest households fell from 74.24 percent in 2018 to 30.74 percent in 2022, despite the program’s goal of prioritizing students with the greatest financial need.
The gap remains significant. BusinessMirror reported that in Academic Year 2024–2025, only 4,746—or 1.23 percent—of 384,388 4Ps senior high school completers accessed TES as first-year beneficiaries.
More than tuition: Help with the cost of staying in school
The government says the reform recognizes a problem that families have faced even after tuition became free: students still have to pay for transportation, food, accommodation, books, school supplies and other education-related expenses.
The original free tuition law removed a major barrier to entering public colleges and universities, but indirect costs can still force financially struggling students to stop studying.
Under RA 12325, assistance is expanded to address some of these additional expenses and help qualified students remain in school until they finish their programs.
The law also allows qualified TES beneficiaries who cannot finish their programs on schedule because of circumstances such as economic hardship, health concerns or disasters to receive up to one additional year of assistance, subject to evaluation and approval.
Private colleges and technical schools included
Another major change is the creation of the Private Education Assistance (PEA) program.
Under the new system, poor and deserving students pursuing priority programs who are not covered by existing grants may receive government assistance to study in qualified private higher education institutions and technical-vocational institutions.
This expands the options available to students who may not be able to secure a place in a public institution but still need financial assistance to pursue a degree, diploma or technical qualification.
The House of Representatives said the measure is intended to make government assistance more responsive to the circumstances of disadvantaged learners and to use both public and private education capacity to widen access.
Nursing and allied-health students could also benefit
The law also addresses expenses connected to internships, clinical training and other professional requirements.
Reports from Philippine media said the expanded assistance includes support for internships and Related Learning Experience (RLE) requirements, particularly for nursing and allied-health students whose clinical training can impose substantial additional costs on families.
Sen. Bam Aquino, one of the measure’s proponents, said RLE-related expenses can become a serious financial burden for students in nursing and allied-health programs.
The measure also provides for assistance related to professional licensure costs and allowances for students with disabilities.
Government assistance to be reviewed regularly
Another provision reported by The Philippine Star requires the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education Board to review and adjust tertiary education subsidies every two years, taking inflation and changing education costs into account.
This is intended to prevent assistance from losing purchasing power as the cost of education and daily living increases.
Millions already benefiting from free higher education
The expanded law builds on the existing free higher education system.
Marcos said the number of beneficiaries of free higher education reached approximately 2.6 million students in the first semester of Academic Year 2026–2027, up from about 2 million in the previous semester.
The administration has also pointed to increases in government scholarship programs, including the Department of Science and Technology’s undergraduate scholarship program.
But education officials acknowledge that free tuition alone is not enough.
CHED Chairperson Shirley Agrupis emphasized that entering college is only the first step and that students also need help with the everyday costs that determine whether they can actually finish their degrees.
What happens next?
The signing of RA 12325 does not mean every student will automatically receive a larger cash allowance immediately.
CHED, TESDA and the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education are expected to prepare the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) that will determine how the expanded benefits will be administered.
That implementation phase will be crucial.
The real test of the new law will be whether qualified students—particularly those from the poorest households—can actually access the assistance without complicated procedures or being left out of the system.
For millions of Filipino families, the issue is no longer simply whether college tuition is free.
It is whether a student who has already entered college can afford transportation, food, housing, school requirements, internships and other costs long enough to graduate.
RA 12325 is designed to address that gap—and put more government assistance behind the students who need it most.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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