Ferdinand C. Bacay Jr.

No budget to distribute to New Grantees

UniFAST is the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education Act. It is an attache
d agency of the Commission on Higher Education, a federally funded program that consolidates all g
overnment-funded student financial assistance programs into one location. Scholarships, grants-in-
aid, student loans, and other Student Financial Assistance Programs were established by the UniFAS
T Board. UniFAST's goal is to provide a single portal through which students can access all
government-sponsored student financial assistance programs. This makes it easier for students to
find and apply to the appropriate program. It also reduces the workload on financial aid offices at
educational institutions.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said it could not accommodate the request of
205,584 students seeking financial assistance through one of its programs after it failed to secure
additional funding under the 2023 budget. CHED chairperson Prospero de Vera made the
announcement during the agency's presentation of its proposed P30-billion budget for next year
before the House appropriations panel. De Vera said the students are new applicants to the Tertiary
Education Subsidy (TES) program which is given to those enrolled in private schools in areas without
state or local university or college and those from families of Unconditional Cash Transfer
Program."Our funds are just sufficient to cover continuing beneficiaries. Hindi po kami
makakapagbukas for new applications kasi wala po kaming pondo para sa new application," De Vera
said. Kabataan party-list Representative Raoul Manuel urged Congress to address the fund gap. “This
trend of CHED not having enough funds for its financial assistance should be reversed," he said. “We
cannot say here in Congress that we are prioritizing education if we are going to allow this," he
added. Aside from lack of funding for the TES program, CHED's proposed 2023 budget also recorded
zero allocation for seven research projects in the areas of artificial intelligence, medical education,
semiconductor fabrication, food production, food safety, and food security involving 21 state
universities and colleges (SUCs). CHED's proposed 2023 budget also earmarked nothing for seed
fund for development of medical schools in SUCS. Zero allocation was also earmarked for the P28.5
million five-year lease payment to the University of the Philippines Diliman which owns the lot
where the CHED building is located.