CHEd: ‘No control over miscellaneous fees’

By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 20:02:00 05/27/2008

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) said Tuesday there are no rules governing the charging of miscellaneous fees by public and private colleges and universities.

In a phone interview with INQUIRER.net, CHEd Deputy Executive Director Julito Vitriolo said Memorandum Order 13, which the commission issued, only regulates tuition increases and does not cover the charging of miscellaneous fees.

Youth group Kabataang Pinoy president Dion Carlo Cerrafon said some universities were jacking up miscellaneous fees even as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asked private higher institutions to reconsider their plans to hike tuition for this school year.

“Schools are foregoing tuition increases but they have been imposing and bloating miscellaneous fees which are mostly questionable,” Cerrafon said.

Cerrafon cited the P976 Internet fee being charged by the University of the East in Manila; the P250 athletics fee of the Asian School of Arts and Sciences “even if the school doesn’t have a varsity team;” and the P250 development fee of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Vitriolo said schools should not be charging energy and development fees, explaining that miscellaneous fees should be “directly related” to the student’s curriculum or course.

“The nature of the miscellaneous fees should be directly relating to the curriculum and it should not include development and energy fees,” he said, adding students are not shareholders for them to pay development fees.

Vitriolo said 70 percent of the miscellaneous fees should be used for the salary of school employees, while 20 percent should by utilized for the improvement of facilities.

He admitted however that no sanctions can be imposed on schools over-charging miscellaneous fees. “We just tell them to rollback to their old, reasonable rates.”

INQUIRER.net tried to call both PUP and UE for comment but received no answer.

League of Filipino Students president Vencer Crisostomo said these “unnecessary, unfair and unjust fees” should be refunded to the students.

“There may be no increase in tuition, but questionable fees are being imposed. These should be investigated, scrapped and refunded,” Crisostomo said

“Unless the government and CHEd start to regulate miscellaneous fees, school owners will continue to profit from students and parents through these excessive fees,” Cerrafon said. “CHEd must also determine the kind of miscellaneous fees which schools can collect.”