by Karen Ann Macalalad
Burdened with unpaid tuition loans for the first semester, one in two UP Diliman (UPD) student borrowers were required to appeal to UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan before they could enroll in the second semester, according to data obtained from the Office of Scholarships and Student Services (OSSS).
A total of 1,161 out of the 2,156 student borrowers have not settled their tuition loans, based on data obtained on January 8, barely a week before the registration period (see sidebar). Students with unpaid financial obligations are tagged ineligible unless their loans are settled. Only an appeal to the chancellor will allow them to defer their payment for up to three semesters, based on the revised Article 431 of the University Code.
Infographics by Emmanuel Jerome Tagaro
“Students usually apply for loans due to lack of cash at hand, delayed remittance, medical emergency, awaiting scholarship result, loss of job of the parents, and giving way to other immediate expenses in the household,” OSSS Officer-in-charge Neil Kenneth Jamandre said.
Tuition loans however do not resolve the problem faced by UP students. “[Loans] would not be necessary in a situation where the poor are able to get scholarship programs,” said Journalism Professor Danilo Arao of the progressive teachers’ group Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy.
Besides the 100 percent loan option offered starting in 2013, graduate students may avail of loans equivalent to 85 percent of their assessed fees. Junior and senior students may apply for up to 80 percent, while first and second year students may get 70 percent.
Failure to settle the loan within four months from when they were granted will lead to a six percent annual interest.
“Ang malala, ‘yung mga estudyante na hindi nakapagbayad dahil wala silang pera ay mangungutang ulit sa ibang tao [at] kailangan nilang magtrabaho, o [isabay] sa pagaaral [nila]” said UPD University Student Council (USC) Councilor Beata Carolino.
Cycle of indebtedness
Fourth year student Nikko has availed of 100 percent loans for the two previous semesters. Despite having an 80 percent tuition discount under the Socialized Tuition System (STS), Nikko still had to apply for loans since he seldom receives money from his family. The STS is a tuition discount system that assigns tuition rates based on an assessment of a student’s socio-economic condition.
“Apat po kasi kaming magkakapatid at tatay ko lang ang nagtatrabaho- school janitor po siya sa isang public school,” Nikko said.
To compensate for his rental and academic expenses, Nikko has been working as part-time tutor for three years now. “May mga pagkakataong pumapasok akong inaantok sa klase… dahil ginagabi sa pagtatrabaho.”
Nikko had to borrow money from his friend to pay his first semester loan worth P6,078 on January 25, then apply for another full percent loan to pay his 10-unit load this semester.
“Maiiwasan sana ang ganitong mga loans kung papakinggan lamang nila ang mga estudyante sa panawagan na libreng edukasyon,” Nikko said.
High cost of tuition
The introduction of socialized tuition schemes since 1989 in UP left an increase in tuition based on the brackets, said Arao.
Following the restructuring of the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) in 2007 that effectively increased base tuition from P300 to P1,000 per unit, the average number of loan applicants surged to 2,126 between 2008 to 2015, from the average 1,227 applicants from 1991 to 2007.
The shift from STFAP to STS in 2014 has further increased the number of students classified into paying brackets, with only one out of 10 students receiving free education in the past two years under STS, and one out of four appealing for lower brackets, according to the Collegian‘s research.
The number of loan applicants also implies how inaccessible and expensive UP education is, and that the STS does not really work for a state university, Carolino said. “[Dapat] sumama [ang administration] sa united call ng mga estudyante at kawani para sa mataas na budget sa UP.”