By Kean Andrei A. Bagaipo | September 20, 2023
Miscellaneous fee increases were implemented following the Central Visayas Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) approval of Silliman University’s (SU) proposal.
According to University Treasurer Carol Bartolata, their office received a notice from CHED Region VII signed by Director Maura Consolacion Cristobal on Sept. 5, notifying the institution to implement the fee increments.
“The Comparative Schedule of Other Fees (Miscellaneous) for School Year 2023-2024 that CHED has noted and approved will be implemented by the university this school year,” she said.
In the letter, CHED noted that the university’s application to increase other fees at all levels by 7 percent for the academic year is “lower than the average Regional Inflation Rate (RIR) of 8.4 percent.”
The miscellaneous fee includes the laboratory, academic program, college, and university fees, for which respective increases were previously demanded due to “high energy and manpower prices.”
Moreover, new fees for the College of Nursing, College of Business Administration, and Institute of Rehabilitative Sciences were also approved in relation to the needs of the programs.
Meanwhile, the administration further clarified to the students that there is “no tuition fee increase” as of the current school year.
“Students enjoy the same tuition rate for the duration of their curriculum,” Bartolata confirmed.
Considering parents who already paid the estimated full amount for the first semester before the approval of the increase, the Office of Business and Finance said that they may pay their balance, if any, until Dec. 1.
The implementation of the proposed increase was “temporarily put on hold” earlier in the school year while waiting for the agency’s and the Legal Education Board’s (LEB) official approval, causing the increase to be implemented a month after classes began.
