The Marcos administration is seeking P61.10 billion for the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTE) Program in 2027, increasing funding for free higher education and technical-vocational training.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the proposed allocation will support free tuition and other school fees in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and qualified local universities and colleges (LUCs).
It will also finance the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) and free technical-vocational education and training in public institutions.
DBM Acting Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon said the proposed funding reflects the administration’s effort to strengthen the country’s workforce through education and skills development.
“These investments focus more on building the human capital that will determine our country’s competitiveness for decades to come,” De Leon said during the Fiscal Year 2027 Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) Briefing at the House of Representatives.
For SUCs, the proposed UAQTE allocation is P1.30 billion, or 5 percent, higher than the amount in the FY 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP). The DBM attributed the increase to continued enrollment growth in SUCs from fiscal years 2023 to 2025.
Overall funding for SUCs under the proposed FY 2027 NEP is P141.090 billion, P6.099 billion or 4.5 percent higher than the P134.991 billion proposed under the FY 2026 NEP.
However, the proposed 2027 amount is P2.979 billion, or 2.1 percent, lower than the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The DBM said the difference mainly reflects non-recurring expenses included in the 2026 GAA, including research projects and locally funded projects initiated by Congress.
Personnel Services funding for SUCs will also increase by P7.421 billion, or 9.6 percent, from P76.959 billion in 2026 to P84.380 billion under the proposed 2027 budget.
The proposed UAQTE allocation for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is P383 million, or 1.4 percent, higher than its FY 2026 NEP funding. The increase is mainly due to additional beneficiaries from newly recognized LUCs.
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), meanwhile, is proposed to receive P814 million, or 16.1 percent, more in UAQTE funding than in 2026.
The DBM said the additional funding will support new students enrolled in diploma courses, including beneficiaries of the Bagong Pilipinas Merit Scholarship Program.
Under Republic Act No. 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, qualified students may receive free tuition and other school fees for their first undergraduate degree in SUCs and CHED-recognized LUCs, subject to the law’s requirements and institutional policies.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also said in his FY 2027 Budget Message that financial constraints should not prevent qualified Filipinos from pursuing higher education and technical-vocational training.
The proposed 2027 budget will undergo deliberations and approval by Congress.
Photo courtesy of TUA
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