The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced that it granted two state colleges in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Certificates of Program Compliance (COPCs), enabling them to officially offer postgraduate programs.

CHED said this milestone marks a significant step in enhancing higher education opportunities in the region, reflecting its commitment to quality and accessibility in academic programs nationwide.

“Students in BARMM can now access not only free tertiary education but also quality postgraduate education,” CHED Secretary Popoy De Vera said in a statement.

De Vera added that more students in BARMM can now access quality and credible postgraduate education after CHED granted Basilan State College (BasSC) and Sulu State College (SSC) Certificates of Program Compliance (COPC) for their graduate programs.

“Hindi na nila kailangan pang tumawid ng isla o pumunta ng Manila para makakuha (They no longer need to cross islands or go to Manila to obtain) professional degrees and to advance their careers,” De Vera said, noting that there are now quality graduate programs at SSC and BasSC.

Compliance

De Vera awarded the COPCs to BasSC President Haipa A. Salain and SSC President Charisma S. Ututalum at the CHED Central Office on Jan. 20.

CHED explained that the COPC serves as a recognition that a specific degree program offered by State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) adheres to the policies, standards, and guidelines set by the commission.

In 2024, CHED issued a memorandum in collaboration with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), reaffirming that only students from SUCs and LUCs offering degree programs with COPC will be eligible to apply for the professional licensure examination. This is under CMO No. 14, Series of 2019, as amended by CMO No. 09, Series of 2023.

CHED said BasSC received COPCs for complying with the prescribed requirements of the commission to offer a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management, a Doctor of Education major in Educational Administration, and a Master of Arts in Education major in Educational Administration.

The COPC was also granted for the Master in Public Administration and Doctor of Public Administration programs at SSC.

Salain thanked the CHED Central Office and CHED Regional Office IX for assisting and guiding Basilan State College to acquire COPC for both undergraduate and graduate programs.

“We are proud to say and report that all of the undergraduate programs at BasSC now have COPCs. Hopefully, by the end of the year, all of our graduate programs will be 100% compliant with CHED standards and guidelines,” Salain said.

Meanwhile, Ututalum said they are “grateful and happy” to receive the COPC for the MPA and DPA programs.

“These are the first two graduate programs, out of seven, at SSC that have COPCs, and we are committed to ensuring that all our programs have COPC before the year ends,” Ututalum said. “This COPC process is not merely for compliance; this is about strengthening our academic foundation to ensure that all these programs we are offering remain quality, relevant, and competitive,” she added.

CHED noted that 100 percent of the undergraduate program offerings at BasSC have COPC, while 19 undergraduate programs, out of 21, at SSC have COPC.

SSC commits that by February of this year, they will obtain 100 percent COPC coverage for their undergraduate program offerings, the commission added.

Helping SUCs, LUCs

De Vera, meanwhile, assured that CHED will work more actively with SUCs and LUCs to help them obtain COPC for their academic programs as early as possible.

“This issuance of COPC to BasSC and SSC is a testament to this commitment of the Commission,” De Vera said. “We are pushing this because we want to ensure that we don't only provide Filipino students access to free higher education but that they receive free and quality higher education,” he added.

CHED noted that COPC also serves as the Quality Standards for SUC and LUC budgets, under Section 10 of Republic Act No. 10931, or the “Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.”