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Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
April 30, 2026 | 12:00am
The CHED office on C.P. Garcia Avenue in Quezon City.
CHED website
MANILA, Philippines — There will be no tuition increases in colleges and universities for academic year 2026-2027 amid the energy crisis caused by the war in the Middle East, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairperson Shirley Agrupis said on Tuesday.
“We have received a lot of requests (for tuition and other fee increases). But we only have one answer. While we recognize the increasing needs of a higher education institution (HEI), we are appealing that this is not the right time to increase tuition,” she said at a press conference.
President Marcos has issued Executive Order 110, declaring a “state of national energy emergency” as he ordered the adoption of a whole-of-government approach to ease the burden of affected sectors.
“So, they (colleges and universities) understood, but we are in the process of calling a meeting with HEIs,” she said.
Agrupis added that the harmonization of tuition and other fees across all state universities and colleges is already done.
“We have already presented it to the Department of Budget and Management. But that is only the government funded, which is covered by our Republic Act 10931, also known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act,” she said.
Online classes
Only few colleges and universities will conduct full online classes after CHED allowed HEIs to implement flexible learning during the state of national energy emergency.
“We really thank our HEI leaders because they really adhered to our call that we leave to their wisdom to determine the readiness and the capacity of the university without sacrificing the expected quality outcome that we want to implement,” Agrupis said.
She has issued a memorandum authorizing HEIs to adopt up to 100 percent online delivery as necessary and as a temporary arrangement, subject to institutional capacity and student readiness and notification to the concerned CHED regional office.
She added that the memorandum aims to guide HEls in ensuring academic continuity while safeguarding student welfare, program outcomes and institutional sustainability.
