AS REPORTED by this paper yesterday, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has approved tuition and other fee increases for 21 private higher education institutions (HEIs) in Western Visayas. With such development, the affordability of college education once again comes under scrutiny.
With hikes pegged to the region’s inflation rate of 6.6%, CHED defends the move as a “balancing act” between sustainability for schools and accessibility for students. But while private institutions must indeed remain financially viable, this lays bare an uncomfortable reality: low- and middle-income families have very few alternatives when private college costs rise.
Western Visayas, with nearly eight million people and a growing number of college-aged youth, cannot rely solely on the private sector to absorb student demand. The region is home to a wide mix of public and private HEIs, yet many rural and urban poor families find themselves priced out of private education, especially during periods of economic strain. Even modest tuition hikes — however justifiable on paper — can force hard decisions: delay enrollment, switch to part-time, or abandon college altogether.
This is why strengthening the region’s public colleges and universities must be treated as a strategic priority. Institutions like West Visayas State University, Iloilo Science and Technology University, Carlos Hilado Memorial State University, and Northern Iloilo State University already carry a large portion of the student population. But they are overstretched. Facilities are aging, student-to-teacher ratios are high, and research and instructional capacities remain limited by underfunding. The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act may have waived tuition, but it has not kept pace with the real investments needed to improve quality and accommodate rising demand.
A robust public education sector serves as a shock absorber — a buffer that protects the most vulnerable from being shut out of college education due to rising costs elsewhere. It ensures that even when inflation surges or private schools must adjust their fees, students still have pathways to finish college without burying themselves in debt or giving up entirely.
CHED may be following the letter of the law in regulating tuition hikes based on inflation. But the larger question demands more than regulatory compliance: Are we building an equitable system where no student is left behind because of family income? Without better-funded, better-equipped public colleges, the answer remains no.
Let Western Visayas’ experience be a turning point — not just for tuition policy, but for a renewed national commitment to strengthening public higher education. Equity in education must be a system we build, not just a slogan.
