Four separate programmes run under Republic Act No. 10931, they pay different amounts to different people, and students routinely confuse them. This page sets out what each one is, what it pays and who qualifies, taking every figure from the programme pages published by the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, UniFAST, which is the body that administers them. Where a figure is not published, this page says so rather than supplying one.
The four programmes at a glance
| Programme | What it does | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Free Higher Education | Exempts you from tuition and other school fees | Students in state universities and colleges and CHED-recognised local universities and colleges |
| Tertiary Education Subsidy | Pays a cash grant on top, for costs beyond tuition | Prioritised students in SUCs, LUCs and private higher education institutions |
| Student Loan Program, short term | Lends against short-term illiquidity | Undergraduate and graduate students, subject to the programme being open |
| Free Tech-Voc Education and Training | Covers technical-vocational training | Learners in state-run and registered TVET programmes |
The distinction that matters most: free higher education removes a charge, while the Tertiary Education Subsidy gives you money. They are not alternatives, and in a state university a student may hold both.
Free Higher Education: the 13 fees it covers
UniFAST reproduces Section 4 of RA 10931 on its own page: all Filipino students enrolled in courses in pursuance of a bachelor’s degree, a certificate degree or any comparable undergraduate degree in any SUC or LUC are exempt from paying tuition and other school fees for units enrolled in.
“Other school fees” is not vague. UniFAST enumerates thirteen, and this list is worth knowing because it is the answer to “so what am I still paying for”:
Admission, athletic, computer, cultural, development, entrance, guidance, handbook, laboratory, library, medical and dental, registration, and school identification fees.
Eligibility, as UniFAST states it: Filipino citizen; meets the admission and retention policies of the SUC or LUC; no previous undergraduate degree; and not overstaying in the programme, which the page illustrates as the programme length of four or five years plus a one-year grace period.
Note that the list is of fees covered, not of every charge a student meets. Anything outside those thirteen is outside the exemption, and what the law does and does not do is examined at length in the piece on whether college tuition is actually free in the Philippines, including the four exclusions in Section 6.
Tertiary Education Subsidy: the amounts
TES is a grant-in-aid supporting the full or partial cost of tertiary education for priority students in SUCs, CHED-recognised LUCs and private higher education institutions. UniFAST publishes the following amounts, stated on its page as applying from Fiscal Year 2023.
| Grantee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Student in an SUC or LUC | ₱20,000 per academic year |
| Student in a private higher education institution | ₱27,000 per academic year |
| TES-3A, person with disability | ₱10,000 per academic year, additional |
| TES-3B, board or licensure examination taker | ₱8,000, one-time reimbursement |
Eligibility. Filipino citizen; meets the admission and retention policies of the SUC or LUC; no previous undergraduate degree; not overstaying in the programme. UniFAST adds that the subsidy is subject to prioritisation and the availability of funds, which is not boilerplate: it is the reason eligible students are sometimes not awarded.
Documentary requirements, as listed: a certificate of registration or enrolment; a certificate of residency, for the private no-SUC-or-LUC category; and a PWD identification card where applicable.
Prioritisation for AY 2026-2027
This is the part students most need and most often cannot find, and UniFAST states it explicitly on its TES page under the heading “Prioritization for AY 2026-2027”. Two tiers.
- First, all enrolled students in SUCs, LUCs and private higher education institutions, including private HEIs in cities or municipalities with no SUCs or LUCs, who are part of households included in the most updated Listahanan. Should Listahanan be discontinued, as certified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program list certified and provided by the DSWD applies instead, including dependents of solo parents, members of Indigenous Peoples communities and persons with disabilities, ranked according to household per capita income as determined by the DSWD.
- Second, all other enrolled students in SUCs, LUCs and private HEIs, including those in cities or municipalities with no SUC or LUC, who are children or dependents of solo parents in active status, or who are part of Indigenous Cultural Communities or Indigenous Peoples, ranked according to household per capita income as determined by the concerned agencies.
The ranking mechanism is the practical point. Within a tier, awards follow household per capita income, which is why two students with identical circumstances at different schools can receive different outcomes.
Tulong Dunong
The Tulong Dunong Program is a subsidy under TES, and UniFAST publishes its terms separately because its eligibility differs.
| Item | As published |
|---|---|
| Benefit | ₱7,500 per regular semester, subject to prioritisation and the availability of funds |
| Income rule | Combined household gross income of parents or guardians not exceeding ₱400,000 |
| Enrolment | Enrolled in any first undergraduate degree programme in an SUC, LUC or private higher education institution |
| Exclusivity | Not a beneficiary of TES, of CHED Scholarship Programs, or of other national government-funded student financial assistance programmes |
That last row is the one that catches people. Tulong Dunong and TES are mutually exclusive, so a student already holding TES does not stack it.
The Student Loan Program is currently suspended
Worth stating plainly because it is a live status rather than a historical note. UniFAST’s Student Loan Program page carries a notice that applications are suspended while the short-term guidelines are under review. The programme itself covers short-term illiquidity for a period not exceeding one year, with amounts for services provided by the institution paid directly to it and the remainder released to the student-borrower. Check the page before planning around it; a suspension is not a repeal and the status can change.
What this page does not tell you, and why
Three gaps, stated rather than filled.
- Application deadlines. UniFAST does not publish a single national deadline on these programme pages, because application runs through your own institution’s financial assistance or scholarship office on that institution’s calendar. Ask there; do not wait for a national announcement.
- CHED’s own scholarship programmes. CHED runs scholarship programmes separately from the RA 10931 programmes above, and Tulong Dunong’s exclusivity rule names them. At the time of writing the CHED website was not reachable, so no CHED scholarship amount, eligibility rule or deadline is stated anywhere on this page. Go to ched.gov.ph or your regional CHED office for those.
- DOST-SEI undergraduate scholarships. The Department of Science and Technology’s Science Education Institute administers separate science and technology undergraduate scholarships with their own examination, stipend and service obligation. Its site was likewise not reachable at the time of writing, so no DOST-SEI figure appears here either. Check sei.dost.gov.ph directly.
The reason for naming the gaps rather than filling them from memory is the same reason your own Chapter 1 should: a scholarship figure that is a year out of date, presented as current, misleads a reader who acts on it.
Citing these figures in a thesis
If you are writing about student financial assistance rather than applying for it, three rules.
- Cite the statute for the entitlement and the agency page for the amount. RA 10931 establishes the programmes; it does not fix the TES peso amounts, which are administrative and change. The reference pattern for the statute is in the piece on citing Republic Acts and Supreme Court decisions.
- Give the academic year with every amount. “₱20,000 per academic year for SUC and LUC grantees, as published by UniFAST” is citable. The same figure without the source and the period is not.
- Do not treat a programme’s existence as evidence of its reach. How many students actually received a benefit is a separate question needing a separate source, and if you cannot find that source, say so. Where other Philippine higher education figures come from, and which agency publishes each, is catalogued in the guide to Philippine higher education statistics for Chapter 1, and the way an attributed figure is deployed in an opening chapter is worked through in the background of the study examples.
Tuition figures for private institutions, which sit outside all of this, are a different dataset again; where the national numbers on cost come from is covered in the tracer study data and in the higher education statistics guide above.
Do not let an unfinished thesis cost you the benefit
Every one of these programmes carries a retention rule and a limit on overstaying. A semester lost to a thesis that stalled is not only a semester; it can be the semester that puts you outside the programme length plus its grace period. If Chapter 2 is empty and the deadline is close, the cost of delay is larger than it looks. Tesify drafts from your own outline, data and sources, keeps the references consistent as you go, and leaves the research entirely yours. Over 9,000 students have used it to get moving again.
Get your chapter moving free on Tesify
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Tertiary Education Subsidy?
UniFAST publishes ₱20,000 per academic year for students in state universities, colleges and CHED-recognised local universities and colleges, and ₱27,000 per academic year for students in private higher education institutions, both stated as applying from Fiscal Year 2023.
Is there extra TES for persons with disabilities?
Yes. UniFAST lists TES-3A at ₱10,000 per academic year as an additional benefit for a person with disability, and TES-3B at ₱8,000 as a one-time reimbursement for board or licensure examination takers.
Who qualifies for TES?
A Filipino citizen who meets the admission and retention policies of the institution, has no previous undergraduate degree, and is not overstaying in the programme. Awards are subject to prioritisation and the availability of funds.
What is the prioritisation for AY 2026-2027?
UniFAST places households in the most updated Listahanan first, or the DSWD-certified 4Ps list if Listahanan is discontinued, including solo-parent dependents, Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities, ranked by household per capita income. All other students who are solo-parent dependents or part of Indigenous Cultural Communities follow, ranked the same way.
Which fees does free higher education cover?
Tuition plus thirteen other school fees that UniFAST enumerates: admission, athletic, computer, cultural, development, entrance, guidance, handbook, laboratory, library, medical and dental, registration, and school identification fees.
How much is Tulong Dunong?
₱7,500 per regular semester, subject to prioritisation and the availability of funds, for students whose combined household gross income does not exceed ₱400,000 and who are not already TES or CHED Scholarship Program beneficiaries.
Can I receive both TES and Tulong Dunong?
No. UniFAST states that a Tulong Dunong applicant must not be a beneficiary of TES, of CHED Scholarship Programs, or of other national government-funded student financial assistance programmes.
Is the student loan programme open?
Not at the time of writing. UniFAST’s page carries a notice that applications are suspended while the short-term guidelines are under review. Check the page directly, since a suspension can be lifted.
When is the deadline to apply?
There is no single national deadline on the UniFAST programme pages. Applications run through your own institution’s financial assistance or scholarship office on that institution’s calendar, so ask there.
What about CHED and DOST-SEI scholarships?
Both run separate programmes with their own rules. Neither website was reachable at the time of writing, so no CHED or DOST-SEI figure is stated on this page. Go to ched.gov.ph, your regional CHED office, or sei.dost.gov.ph for those.