Philippines

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) works with DECS to regulate higher education in the Philippines. This organization was created through Republic Act No.7722, also known as the Higher Education Act of 1994, during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos. The commission's vision is the pursuit of a better quality of life for all through education. Most institutions of higher education are in the private sector and there is a large concentration of them in the metropolitan area of Manila. In 1965-1966, there were a total of 527,000 students (468,00 private) in 466 schools (440 private). In 1984-1985, this number more than tripled to 1.73 million students (1.34 million private) in 1,157 schools (838 private). Statistics from CHED show that by 1998, there were 1,495 schools (1,118 private). About 25 foreign nationalities and citizenships are represented amongst the higher education students. China, USA, and Thailand have the most representation.

Higher education programs are offered in the following fields (with the number of students for the years 1990 and 1995 in parenthesis): arts and sciences (187,313 and 226,111); teacher education (257,638 and 276,046); engineering and technology (228,757 and 275,695); medical and health (272,784 and 238,988); commerce (380,491 and 603,575); agriculture (50,006 and 72,656); law (14,581 and 13,983); religion (4,711 and 8,262); information technology (36,947 and 117,799); maritime (92,114 and 137,584); and criminology (24,297 and 47,273). Commerce is the most popular program. There has been a rapid increase, up to 218 percent, in the number of students taking information technology.

Since 1973, students are required to take the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), before they can begin higher education. This exam is administered during the fourth year of high school. A controversial issue regarding this exam is the use of English, which prejudices against students from rural and poor areas.

Tuition in private schools of higher education is higher than that of public schools although private tuition rates sometimes mean less expenditure per student as compared to public institutions. It has even been suggested to the Philippine government that they might save money by offering government scholarships for students to enroll in private schools.

During the school year 1989-1990, the four autonomous campuses and five regional units of the University of the Philippines initiated a program of socialized tuition and subsidies named Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP). During its first year, 44 percent of the 26,000 undergraduate students received free tuition. A tuition reduction or discount of 25 to 75 percent was given to another 22 percent. Living and book allowances are other forms of subsidy under this program and some 24 percent of undergraduate students received these.

Through CHED, various projects have been created to improve higher education, namely: National Higher Education Research Agenda (NHERA), Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program, 1996 CHED Computerization Program, and Centers of Excellence/Centers of Development.

During the 1980s and 1990s, higher education institutions were producing many graduates who were unable to find employment to match their educational skills. This lead to certain institutions being known as "diploma mills," earning profit for churning out jobless graduates or underemployed graduates. It also created a group of highly educated, discontented youth quick to criticize the administration. To prevent this situation from further deteriorating, two surveys were performed: Higher Education Labor Market Surveys I and II or HELMS I and II. These studies researched and surveyed the transition from school to work over a period of time, then made recommendations based on their findings.

With the Philippine economy unable to employ its graduates, these skilled workers looked overseas for employment. An exodus of professionals and skilled laborers ensued. This situation has been referred to as the "brain drain" of the Philippines. In 1996, the Philippine National Statistics Office reported that the majority of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) were in Asia/Middles East (78.8 percent). While definitely being a grave problem, it has had some positive effects. According to the US State Government Background Notes on the Philippines, the country's economy was less severely damaged by the Asian financial crisis of 1997 due to the considerable remittances from overseas workers, totaling approximately $5 billion annually.

Of the 650 institutions providing higher education in the country, 550 are private colleges, 35 are private universities, 25 are state colleges, and 7 are state universities. In 1987 there were 274 graduate schools (196 private) in the Philippines, most of which were located in Metro Manila. There were 44,427 students in the master's programs while 4,848 were in doctoral programs during 1985-1986. About 2 percent of all students in higher education were in the graduate level. For this same period 176 graduate programs were available in Metro Manila. These post-graduate programs were in the arts and sciences (81), agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (34), and teacher education (20).

Some 147 schools offered M.B.A.s while 141 institutions offered M.A.s in education. The highest number of doctoral students was in the field of education. The majority of faculty members teaching higher education have received either a B.S./B.A. degree or a master's degree. Only about 4 percent have their doctoral degrees, and most of them are at the University of the Philippines. Faculty development becomes a major issue since schools have difficulty recruiting highly qualified faculty members due to low salary levels. Colleges and universities usually lose their professors to industries that have better pay or to overseas employers who pay in dollars.

Higher education is slowly catching up with the information age as more institutions are going online. During the beginning of 2001, there were a number of institutions with their own Web sites. Various public and private sites have also surfaced to provide services to students in higher education. The notable ones are the Advanced Science and Technology Institute, Kodiko Online, 2StudyIt.com, Education for Life Foundation, Estudyante.com, FAPENET, Gurong Pahinugod, Iskolar.com, and others. School budgetary problems limit the access of students to technology in the classroom.