MANILA (August 17) — The government’s release of P9.75 billion for free higher education offers much-needed relief to state universities and colleges (SUCs), but the delayed reimbursement also exposes a less visible cost of keeping college tuition-free: universities have had to shoulder expenses while waiting for government funds.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it released the amount to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to settle Free Higher Education (FHE) program costs that SUCs had previously covered using their own institutional resources.
The funding covers arrears from academic years 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.
CHED, through the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, will facilitate the transfer of the funds to the affected SUCs.
The FHE program was established under Republic Act 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which provides free tuition and other school fees in SUCs and CHED-recognized local universities and colleges.
For millions of Filipino families, the policy has helped remove one of the biggest financial barriers to earning a college degree.
But free tuition does not mean free education.
Universities still have to pay faculty, maintain laboratories and classrooms, purchase equipment, provide student services and keep campuses operating. When reimbursement for FHE expenses is delayed, SUCs must find ways to cover the gap.
The hidden cost of ‘free’
Acting Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon described the release as nearly P10 billion in additional fiscal support for 108 SUCs, saying government support should be viewed beyond a single budget line.
The DBM said the reimbursement will ease financial pressure on universities and give them greater fiscal space for other lawful institutional priorities.
That relief is significant—but it also raises a basic question about the implementation of free higher education:
How long can universities continue absorbing program costs before delayed reimbursements begin competing with other educational needs?
Every peso temporarily diverted to cover FHE expenses is a peso that may otherwise have supported campus improvements, academic programs, equipment, research or student services.
The government may ultimately reimburse the schools, but delays can still create operational pressure at the institutional level.
Free for students, but what about quality?
RA 10931 was designed to expand access to tertiary education, particularly for students who might otherwise be unable to afford college.
That goal remains important in a country where families continue to struggle with education, food, transportation and other daily expenses.
But access is only one part of the equation.
A student may enter college without paying tuition but still face overcrowded classrooms, inadequate laboratories, aging facilities, limited learning resources or other costs that a tuition-free policy does not automatically address.
This is why the government’s measure of success should not stop at how many students receive free tuition.
It should also ask whether SUCs have enough predictable funding to provide the quality of education those students are entitled to receive.
A welcome release, but timing matters
The P9.75-billion release provides important breathing room for 108 SUCs and should help restore resources that universities had already used to implement the government’s free higher education commitment.
But the experience also demonstrates why timely and predictable financing matters.
For public universities, reimbursement after several academic years may settle an old obligation, but it does not erase the financial pressure created while waiting.
For students and families, the larger issue is equally clear: free higher education must be financially sustainable if it is to remain meaningful.
The government’s commitment should therefore be measured not only by the size of its releases, but by whether funding reaches institutions on time, adequately and consistently.
Because for Filipino students, the promise of free college should mean more than a zero tuition bill.
It should mean a real chance to graduate from a properly funded public university with the quality education they were promised.
