Iriga university says gov’t subsidy, non-profit model drive more students to private schools

Non-profit initiatives and government subsidies are helping attract more students to private schools amid a nationwide decline in enrollment, according to the University of Saint Anthony (USANT) in Iriga City.

“Under the Tertiary Education Subsidy, the cities without any SUCs (state universities and colleges), students who are residents of the city were given a subsidy,” USANT President Emmanuel “Mickey” SD. Ortega told BusinessWorld in an interview.

“Essentially, that allows students who normally can’t afford a private education they are able to go to a private institution,” he added.

The Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) program under the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)’s Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) is a “grant-in-aid program that supports the full or partial cost of tertiary education of priority students in SUCs, CHED-recognized local universities and colleges (LUCs) and private higher education institutions (HEIs).”

Mr. Ortega said that, in addition to the TES, the government should “give more subsidies to non-profit (private) institutions to help them to be on par with the DepEd (Department of Education) and CHED regulations,” ensuring that they continue to provide quality education.

In a report by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) on August 4, 200 private HEIs nationwide have shut down operations due to enrollment decline influenced by the free tuition in SUCs, LUCs, and state-run Technical-Vocational Institutions.

“While free tuition has made education more accessible, it has also redirected enrollment away from private HEIs, putting their financial viability at risk,” the agency added.

Apart from financial assistance from the government, non-profit models can give private institutions a competitive edge in drawing students, according to Mr. Ortega.

“Ours is doing alright, attracting a lot of enrollment because of the ecosystem of how a non-profit works, where 100% of the profit goes back to the university,” he said.

In a regular for-profit private college, part of the net income is distributed among its stockholders. Meanwhile, for non-profit institutions, the board of trustees is not entitled to any of the profit.

“[It] allows us to innovate faster when it comes to salary and wages, benefits, infrastructure, events, and even calamity efforts,” the university president said.

USANT’s enrollment growth increased by 58.7% from 2020 to 2025. The ongoing enrollment in the private university for the school year 2025-2026 sees a 5.9% increase in basic education enrollees and a 6.9% increase in college enrollees compared to the previous school year. – Almira Louise S. Martinez