MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has temporarily suspended the application for permits to operate graduate programs in the country pending a review of the existing policies and guidelines of the government.
The suspension of application for government authorization to offer graduate programs is in view of the need to rationalize and upgrade the standards of graduate education in the country, CHED chair Patricia Licuanan said.
No new applications for graduate programs will be accepted until the revised general policies, standards and guidelines is released by the commission.
CHED did not provide a timeline on when the revised guidelines will be released.
In her memorandum, Licuanan said the suspension will cover all graduate programs, including non-conventional programs such as expanded tertiary education equivalency and accreditation program, transnational education and open distance education.
Applications received by the commission before April 7 will be processed if these are already compliant with the minimum requirements.
Applications non-compliant with the requirements, however, will not be processed while the new guidelines are being formulated.