CHED grants autonomous status to CDU

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU) joins the ranks as one of the best universities in the country after it was granted an autonomous status, the highest status a university can get from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Potenciano Larrazabal, president and chairman of the board of the Cebu Doctors’ group of companies, said in an interview that CDU is the first non-sectarian university in the Visayas to be granted the autonomous status. University of San Carlos, a sectarian university, is also in the roster of autonomous universities in the country.

Universities placed on autonomous status are considered premium schools and are at the pedestal, in terms of quality. They are also may not be under the regulation of CHED, in certain areas such as courses to be offered.

“After a thorough evaluation by officials of CHED, they reviewed our books, evaluated our faculty and staff, they finally granted us the autonomous status last May 26, 2010,” Larrazabal said.

He said that CDU is proud to be among the 40 universities in the country that are granted the autonomous status. The others include University of the Philippines, Our Lady of Fatima College, Lyceum of the Philippines University of Batangas, De La Salle University, St. Xavier’s College and Ateneo De Manila University. The status is however good only for five years. CDU will again be re-evaluated after five years to check if it has maintained its quality of education.

Larrazabal admitted that CDU’s tuition fees is, on the average, 20 percent higher than the tuition fees of other nursing schools in Cebu. But operating a nursing school is “not cheap” when done properly.

This is why the school is proud that CDU is one of the nursing schools in the country with a consistent high passing rate of its students in the nursing licensure examinations. The average passing rate of its students from 2004-2008 is 91.89 percent.

With regard to the warning issued by CHED to nursing schools in Cebu with low passing rate, which includes St. Paul’s College, University of the Visayas, University of Southern Philippines and Benedicto College, Larrazabal said it is but proper for these schools to improve on the quality of their nursing curriculum for the sake of the country’s future nursing graduates.  

Meanwhile, Larrazabal said the Cebu Doctors’ group has no plan of building new hospitals in the next three years. The company is however concentrating its capital expenditure for the upgrading of the facilities of its existing hospitals. These are Cebu Doctors’ Hospital on Jones Avenue, North General Hospital in Talamban, South General Hospital in Naga City , Mactan Doctors’ Hospital and San Carlos Doctors’ Hospital. The company is also currently building three medical arts buildings.