8 private schools in Eastern Visayas hike tuition

TACLOBAN CITY — Eight private schools in Eastern Visayas are set to increase their tuition this coming schoolyear, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said yesterday.

Ciriaco Sabino Jr., CHED education supervisor and tuition coordinator, said the schools and their respective tuition hikes are the following:

• Samar College in Catbalogan, Samar, 15.17 percent, or P22 per unit;

• Western Leyte College in Ormoc City, Leyte, 10 percent, or P33 per unit;

• St. Joseph College in Maasin City, Southern Leyte, 10 percent, or P33 per unit;

• STI Tacloban, 8.98 percent or P30 per unit; STI Ormoc, 8.47 percent, or P25 per unit;

• Sacred Heart Seminary School in Palo, Leyte, 15 percent, or P19.65 per unit;

• San Jose Navarro Polytechnic College in Kananga, Leyte, 15 percent, or P24.17 per unit; and AMA Computer College in Tacloban City.

Sabino earlier said St. Mary’s College in Borongan, Eastern Samar and ABE International Computer College in Tacloban had similarly applied for tuition hikes but still lacked the required documents.

CHED records show that nine private tertiary schools increased their tuition by 10 to 20 percent last year. Of the number, four are also increasing their tuition this year, namely, STI Ormoc, STI Tacloban, Western Leyte College and St. Joseph College.

Sabino said CHED no longer has any control of the tuition increases of private tertiary schools as long as they comply with the requirements.

He, however, appealed to private school owners and administrators to give quality education to their students.

Regional CHED officials expect enrollment in private schools to decline due to the high tuition.