Citing CHED ban, lawmaker wants schools to refund ‘development’ fees

Kabataan party-list Representative Terry Ridon has filed a resolution urging the Commission on Higher Education to compel some schools to return development fees that they have collected despite a CHED barring them from doing so.

 

In a press conference Thursday, Ridon said higher education institutions (HEI) have been prohibited from collecting development fees—fees that will supposedly fund school improvements—since August 2012 when CHED issued Resolution No 221-2012.

 

Signed by CHED chairperson Patricia Licuanan and four other commissioners, the resolution states that HEIs—whether private or public—cannot collect development fees effective Academic Year (AY) 2013-2014 because the cost of “any school improvements should not be borne by the students.”

 

But according to research conducted by Kabataan party-list, some schools still collect the fees, with some disguising the fee under a different name.

 

Based on a list furnished to reporters, FEATI University charged students a P2,000 development fee for AY 2013-2014.

 

Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), the University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle University-Taft also charged development fees of P330.75 to P1,000 (for ADMU, depending on the year level), P1,750, and P985, respectively.

 

Other schools that Kabataan party-list said they found charging development fees despite the resolution include National University, University of San Carlos, Wesleyan University-Philippines, Central Luzon State University, and Manuel Envarga University Foundation.

 

HEIs that supposedly renamed the development fee to keep collecting it from students include:

 

 

Ridon said students should not be required to pay for school improvements since these should be covered by the HEI’s capital expenditures.

“The memorandum is very clear in saying students should not be burdened [with development fees]. The schools should comply with the CHED order,” he said.

 

The lawmaker also insisted charging a fee that is essentially similar to the nature and use of development fees but called a different name “does not and should not exempt schools [from following] CHED Resolution No. 221-2012.”

 

Ridon on Wednesday filed House Resolution No. 894, which urges CHED to order HEIs to refund development fees they have collected in the current school year.

 

Should CHED comply with the resolution, HEIs will be required to refund from P400 to P6,000 to each student for a full year’s worth of development fees. — JDS, GMA News