Tuition fee increase discussions delayed

Next year’s tuition fee increase is certainly around the corner, but the multisectoral committee deliberations regarding this matter have been repeatedly delayed over the past month.

According to University Student Government (USG) President Migi Moreno, the council was originally due to convene during the last week of November, or the first week of December. He said that the delay was due to unforeseen circumstances in relation to Typhoon Yolanda, as well as continuing incompatibilities between the different committee members’ schedules.

The multisectoral tuition fee committee serves as an avenue for the University’s different stakeholder groups to present their concerns and justifications with matters that directly affect tuition fees. This is also pursuant to a Commission on Higher Education Memorandum that requires multisectoral consultation when it comes to tuition fee deliberations.

Moreno says that if delays continue happening, the committee may have to convene January next year in order to reach a decision by February and announce the decision the following month. He hopes to have the different University stakeholders convene before December ends. As of press time, no meeting has yet taken place.

He adds that the tuition fee increase for next year may range between 0 percent and 8 percent. Parents and students are pushing for a 0 to 3 percent tuition fee increase at the most. Employees and faculty, on the other hand, usually push for a higher tuition fee increase, which lends to more competitive salaries.

He reminds that everything stated is not yet definite, and may change at the time of the actual meeting.

The tuition fee council is a multisectoral committee composed of representatives from the USG, the Parents of University Students Organization, the Employee Association, the Faculty Association and representatives from the University’s administration.

In March earlier this year, a decision was made to increase tuition fees by 4 percent. This was due to the academic and structural development of the DLSU Science and Technology Complex, which began its integration process at the start of AY 2013-14, and the anticipated effects of the K-12 law on the freshman population.

Finding a common schedule is usually a major cause for delays, as per the aforementioned case last year.