MORE than 5.4 million students have benefited from Republic Act (RA) 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, since its implementation in 2018, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said on Wednesday.
Based on estimates from Gatchalian’s office, a total of 5.476 million unique beneficiaries have received assistance under the landmark education law from 2018 through Academic Year 2025-2026. Of the total, 4.070 million students benefited from the Free Higher Education Program, while 1.406 million received support through the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES). Enacted in 2017 and implemented beginning Academic Year 2018-2019, RA 10931 provides free tuition and other school fees for qualified students enrolled in state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges, and state-run technical-vocational institutions. The law also established the TES program to provide financial assistance for education-related expenses, particularly for underprivileged students. Gatchalian highlighted the continuing efforts of Congress to strengthen the implementation of the law, noting that the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed amendments to the Free Higher Education Law has already been ratified by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and is now ready for enrollment for presidential action. He underscored the importance of expanding the capacity of SUCs to accommodate more students. He previously disclosed that at least 168,493 qualified applicants were denied admission due to enrollment capacity constraints. To help address the problem, the 2026 national budget includes additional funding for SUCs. During his tenure as chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Gatchalian led efforts to increase SUCs’ funding by P6.3 billion, of which P5.2 billion was sought by his office specifically to help expand enrollment capacity and improve access to higher education. The additional allocation is expected to support the construction and improvement of school facilities, the hiring of faculty members and the expansion of academic programs to accommodate more students nationwide. ”Our SUCs can count on our continued support so that we can reach more students and deliver quality education,” Gatchalian said in Filipino.The Senate chief has been among the principal advocates of expanding access to higher education, emphasizing that investments in education remain critical to improving social mobility and developing the country’s future workforce.
