1) What is the role of state colleges and universities in the development of our country?

State colleges and universities play a big role in the development of our country. The
responsiveness of the SUCs’ extension units help many communities nationwide. The relevance of SUC’s
programs vis-à-vis its mission, vision and goals identify the nature of the extension program in terms of
categorizing development needs addressed by their extension units through their past, present and
future activities. SUCs also plays a major part in the nation’s functional literacy, organization and
mobilization of community development projects, livelihood, health, socio-cultural awareness and
capacity building.

2) Why is the integration of colleges and universities a necessity to attain the rational development goals?

The integration of colleges and universities in our country is a necessity to attain the rational
development goals of the country. State Universities and Colleges (SUC) in Philippine Higher Education
are created to provide access to more affordable, good quality education for the poor and
disadvantaged, to ensure equity of access to higher education while at the same time serving as
instruments of development in their regional and national contexts. Among the nine strategies and
strategic initiatives of Philippine public higher education includes rationalizing the number, distribution,
and growth of SUCs through the implementation of restructuring models like amalgamation and
integration. This way, every school can also promote its own field of expertise through its unique
curricular offerings and specialty courses.

3) What is the role of colleges and universities in the country’s economic development?

Colleges and Universities contribute to the country’s economic development because it

provides opportunities for citizens to develop themselves and advance economically. It was readily
conceded that these educated persons were, by their presence and the larger contributions they were
capable of making, beneficial to society. Further, at some campuses, faculty conducted research which
occasionally produced scientific breakthroughs in medical fields, industrial processes and production,
agriculture, and other areas. It is recognized that these breakthroughs improve life in unanticipated
ways.

Our country’s system of higher education bears an important responsibility for ensuring that our
workforce is prepared for the demands of economic change. Our HEI’s vision is grounded in the ability of
our colleges and universities to serve the practical needs of the economy by teaching and training, and
more significantly, by unleashing the creative thinking that moves our economy forward.
4) Why is the integration of universities very necessary at this time?

Integration is very necessary because in the impending implementation of the K+12 system, the
government’s move to improve efficiency by rationalizing the public higher education system and to
upgrade quality of public higher education becomes more intense. Thus, integration, amalgamation
and directional changes from which SUCs anchor their educational reforms are framed from the Public
Higher Education Reform objectives and initiatives, 2011-2016 as individually presented in the following:

Objective A. Improve efficiency: Rationalize the public higher education system

1. Rationalizing the number, distribution, and growth of SUCs and LUCs. Mapping, piloting of governance
and restructuring models like amalgamation
2. Rationalizing SUC/LUC program offerings. Typology, SUC leveling, review, phase out/closure of
inefficient, duplicative programs and development of priority programs
3. Rationalizing resource utilization and maximizing resource generation by SUC. Normative financing,
socialized tuition fee schemes, asset inventory and management of resource generation, improving
public financial management of SUCs and synchronizing with Government Integrated Financial
Management Information System (GIFMIS)

Objective B. Upgrade quality of public Higher Education

1. Strengthening quality assurance in SUCs and LUCs. Monitoring and evaluation, phase out/closure of
standard programs and accreditation
2. Upgrading qualification of faculty with the Faculty Development Program
3. Upgrading leading SUCs to international standards. Establishing R & D centers with state–of-the-art
facilities, grants-in-aid for RDE, Centers of Excellence/Development Program
Objective C. Enhance access to quality higher education. Modernizing facilities of developing SUCs,
strengthening Student Financial Assistance Programs and strengthening Public HEI Management thru
Executive Development.

In rationalizing Philippine Higher education, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)

presented in the strategic plan for 2011-2016 that integration/amalgamation is a strategy towards
rationalization [11].

5) Why is accreditation very necessary among state colleges and universities?

Nowadays, college accreditation is very necessary because it is a formal recognition, or

guarantee, that an entire school or college, or even just one of its programs meets certain standards and
provides quality education. College accreditation gives the assurance that students would be able to
attain educational outcomes and enjoy quality education. College accreditation entitles students to
rights to admissions, orientation, registration, counseling, tutoring, placement, financial aid, and other
student services that are available to all other college students, regardless of the delivery method of
classes.
 Without accreditation by a nationally recognized accrediting organization, a school is not eligible
to participate in government student assistance programs. This means that students would not be
eligible for scholarship grants or loan money. Most employers who offer tuition assistance will not
reimburse their tuition if they attend a school that is not accredited. If students intend to transfer credits
from one school to another, they will only be able to do so if they attended an accredited college or
university.

6) What is the role of an SUC as a center of excellence and development?

SUCs that are Centers of Excellence (COEs) are public higher education institutions that
takes the role of demonstrating the highest degree or level of standards along the areas of instruction,
research and extension of their particular fields or courses. SUCs that are Centers of Development (COD)
on the other hand, are public educational disciplines which have been considered to significantly
improve over the course of the previous year. Their role is to provide institutional leadership in all
aspects of development in specific areas of discipline in the various parts of the nation by providing
networking arrangements to help ensure the accelerated development of Higher Educational
Institutions in their respective service areas.

7) Why is it that the University of the Philippines is autonomous in nature?

The University of the Philippines is autonomous in nature because of the U.P. Charter of 2008
that was passed into law through REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9500 which is AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN THE
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES AS THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY.

U.P.’s autonomy was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines
through Sec. 11 of Rep. Act 9500 which states that:

SEC. 11. Institutional Autonomy as the National University. – To provide greater flexibility, it
shall be treated in a manner consistent with its institutional requirements as the national university by
the service-wide agencies in the exercise of their respective jurisdiction. Taking into account national
goals and priorities, it shall exclusively determine its teaching, research and extension thrusts, plans,
policies, programs and standards, and, on the basis of such determination, the national university shall
recommend its annual budget to the President of the Republic of the Philippines and Congress.

8) Why do colleges and universities prefer the ASEAN INTEGRATION 2015

In a CHED briefing paper released by its International Affairs Service (IAS) in March 2014,
Chairperson Patricia Licuanan admitted that the country needs to “catch up with the much earlier
preparations of its ASEAN partners.” Apart from the action plan, Licuanan said the following need to be
accomplished: (1) a policy framework for the “Internationalization of Higher Education,” (2) the inclusion
of more Philippine universities in the ASEAN University Network (AUN), (3) participation in the ASEAN
International Mobility of Students (AIMS) Program, and (4) the development of a better credit transfer
system and “Diploma Supplement which will enable the comparability of Philippine higher education
with those of other countries.”
 Apart from these, CHED also carries out the Higher Education Reform Agenda 2011-2016,
components of which contribute to preparing the Philippines for ASEAN 2015. These initiatives include,
among others, the establishment of a quality assurance system for the Philippine Qualifications
Framework; the shift to learning competency-based standards or learner outcomes-based qualifications
in the disciplines; revision of the general education curriculum with the implementation of K to 12;
review of graduate education and transnational programs; close collaboration with industry in specifying
competencies and training of teachers in industry-oriented disciplines; and embarking on the Philippine
California Advanced Research Institutes.

ASEAN member states recognize the crucial role of higher education in regional development.
As the lead Philippine agency, CHED continues to work toward achieving a harmonized higher education
environment in the region, which will ultimately contribute to the realization of an ASEAN Community
by 2015.