By Merlina Hernando Malipot
With still days before the deadline, incoming first year and current college students have started to flock to various regional offices of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to submit their applications for Commission’s financial assistance programs.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
CHED, in its official Facebook and Twitter accounts, posted photos of students in some CHED Regional Offices (CHED-RO) waiting in queue in line to process their applications for the Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAPs) for Academic Year (AY) 2019-2020.
“Less than a week before the deadline, incoming first year and current college students submit their application for CHED Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAPs) at the Regional Offices of NCR, MiMaRoPa, and Region IV,” CHED said.
The application period for the StuFAPs for incoming freshmen and on-going college for AY 2019-2020 is scheduled from February 1, 2019 to April 30, 2019. Interested applicants were required to submit accomplished StuFAPs application forms – among other documents as requirements.
What is StuFAPs?
StuFAPs is a “program that aims to provide financial assistance to students who are enrolled in an authorized public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).” CHED said that StuFAPs “helps to ensure that education is accessible to all specially to underprivileged and deserving students.”
Qualified beneficiaries, CHED said, “shall enroll or must be currently enrolled in any CHED priority courses” as cited in its CMO No. 1 series of 2014. Among the CHED priority courses include Information Technology; Agriculture and Related fields; Teacher Education; Science and Math; Engineering; Health Sciences; Arts and Humanities; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Business Administration and related courses; Architecture; Maritime; Communication/Documentation; and Other Programs. CHED said that they shall receive a financial assistance amounting to Php6,000 to Php 30,000 per semester “whichever program an applicant qualifies.”
There are three (3) programs under the StuFAPs of CHED: the Scholarship, the Grants-in-Aid (GIA) and the Study Now Pay Later Plan (SNPLP).
The Scholarship Programs include the State Scholarship Program (SSP) which includes Full Scholarship (FS) and Partial Scholarship (PS) programs. The FS and PS beneficiaries will receive Php30,000 and Php15,000 financial benefits per academic year, respectively. The Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA) Scholarship Program, on the other hand, is for high school graduates who wish to enroll in private HEIs and will receive Php15,000 financial benefits per academic year.
The GIA program covers the “Tulong Dunong (TD)” which is for high school graduates whose General weighted average (GWA) is at least a passing grade to receive Php 6,000 per AY; for students with earned units in college whose weighted average is at least a passing grade for the last two semesters to receive Php 9,000 per AY; and for students who passed the Alternative Learning System (ALS) and the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) with passing grade for their last two semesters to receive Php12,000 per AY.
Meanwhile, the SNPLP is a loan program “for deserving college students in any curriculum year level.” Qualified applicants to this program shall receive Php15,000 financial assistance per AY. Aside from these, CHED also offers other financial assistance programs in partnership with other government agencies and organizations.
For interested applicants
Incoming freshmen who are on-going Senior High School (SHS) Grade 12 applicants, they need to submit their Grade 11 grades and First Semester of Grade 12 (Certified True Copy); for Senior High School graduates, they are required to submit the Grade 12 Form 138 (Certified True Copy); and for on-going College, they need to turn in certificate of grades in all subjects in the last two (2) semesters (Certified True Copy).
For other applicants such as those who took the Alternative Learning System (ALS), they should be passers of the ALS-Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Test and should be able to submit their ALS-A&E Certificate. For Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT), their need to submit the certificate of Advancing to the next level with rating reflected in the report card.
Other requirements include the copy of the latest Income Tax Return (ITR) of parents or guardian if employed. For those who are exempted from filing income tax, they need Certificate of Tax Exemption, certificate of Indigency from the Barangay, case study from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or Affidavit of No Income while for OFW and Seafarers, they must turn in their latest copy of contract or Proof of Income.
CHED reminded that applicants also need to submit certificate of Good Moral Character from the last school attended; and ID pictures. “Only applications with complete documents will be accepted and included in the ranking and selection of beneficiaries,” CHED said.
The applicants, CHED said, must submit their accomplished CHED StuFAPs applications – together with pertinent documentary requirements – “directly to the CHED Regional Office concerned.” The applicants who intend to enroll in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) “shall directly submit their application to the concerned SUCs,” CHED added.
CHED noted that the interested applicants they need to check whether they are qualified to any CHED StuFAPs. Based on CMO 13, s. 2014, the general qualifications must be a Filipino citizen; must be a high school graduate; candidate for graduation; with earned units in college; passer of ALS / PEPT; must have a combined annual gross income of parents/guardian not to exceed Three Hundred Thousand Pesos (PhP 300,000.00); must avail of only one CHED scholarship or financial assistance program; and must not be a graduate of any degree program. “In highly exceptional cases where income exceeds PhP300,000.00, the CHEDRO StuFAPs Committee shall determine the merits of the application,” CHED ended.