"Free tuition" is one of the most misunderstood phrases in Philippine higher education. The law behind it — Republic Act No. 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act — is real and does cover millions of students, but it doesn't mean every fee at every school disappears. Here's what it actually does.
What RA 10931 Is
Signed into law in 2017, RA 10931 covers tuition and, for most covered schools, miscellaneous fees for qualifying Filipino students at State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) — the two categories of public higher education institution in the Philippines. It's implemented through the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST), and it's the reason enrolling at a public university in the Philippines today usually costs a fraction of what it did before 2018.
Who's Actually Covered
RA 10931 applies to Filipino citizens enrolled in SUCs and LUCs who meet each school's academic and residency requirements — broadly, first-time freshmen and continuing students in good standing, up to a set number of years per program. It does not apply to private universities. If a school on this site is privately run — Ateneo, De La Salle, UST, FEU, Mapúa, and most of the others — RA 10931 has no effect on what you pay there at all. It only matters for public schools: the various University of the Philippines campuses, PUP, and other SUCs/LUCs.
What's Still Not Free, Even at a Covered School
This is the part most explainers skip. Even at a school RA 10931 covers, several things typically remain out of pocket:
- Miscellaneous fees at some schools. The law's default is that tuition and miscellaneous fees are both covered at SUCs/LUCs, but implementation isn't perfectly uniform, and some schools still bill smaller miscellaneous or specific-purpose fees to paying-bracket or non-qualifying students.
- Fees for non-qualifying students. Students who don't meet a school's academic retention rules, exceed the allowed years in a program, or aren't Filipino citizens generally fall back to paying full rates.
- Dormitory, food, transportation, and books. RA 10931 covers school-charged tuition and fees, not cost of living. This is the single biggest source of confusion — "free tuition" was never "free college."
- Fees at private schools entirely. Again, the law simply doesn't reach private institutions.
A concrete example: our own UP Open University and Philippine Normal University pages both note that RA 10931 applies to qualifying students at those schools, but PNU's own published fee schedule explicitly states that qualifying students get tuition and miscellaneous fees waived — while other SUCs handle the miscellaneous-fee side differently. The safest approach is always to check the specific school's own registrar page rather than assume "SUC" automatically means "everything is free."
How to Check If Your School Is Covered
The quickest test: is it a state university (has "University of the Philippines," "Polytechnic," or is named after a province/region as a public institution) or a city/municipality-run local college? If yes, RA 10931 likely applies, subject to the qualifying-student rules above. If it's a private university — anything with a religious order, private foundation, or corporate ownership behind it — RA 10931 doesn't apply, full stop, regardless of how well-known or affordable the school is.
RA 10931 and Scholarships Together
RA 10931 free tuition and a scholarship aren't mutually exclusive at a covered school — a student can have tuition waived under RA 10931 and separately receive a CHED merit scholarship, Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) stipend, or university-specific award to help cover living costs, since those address different expenses. Many students conflate the two and assume once tuition is free there's nothing left to apply for; TES specifically exists to cover the costs RA 10931 doesn't.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who authored RA 10931?
- RA 10931, also known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, was principally authored and championed in the Senate by then-Senator Bam Aquino, alongside co-authors and counterpart House sponsors, and was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2017.
- Does RA 10931 cover UP tuition?
- Yes — all University of the Philippines constituent campuses are SUCs, so qualifying Filipino students get tuition covered under RA 10931, subject to UP's own academic and enrollment rules.
- Is RA 10931 the same as free tertiary education for everyone?
- No. It only covers tuition (and, at most schools, miscellaneous fees) for qualifying Filipino students at public SUCs/LUCs. It doesn't touch private school tuition, doesn't cover living costs, and has academic/retention conditions attached.
- What is SUC and LUC?
- SUC stands for State University or College — a public higher education institution funded and chartered at the national level. LUC stands for Local University or College — a public institution established and funded by a province, city, or municipality. Both categories are covered by RA 10931.
- What does "Iskolar ng Bayan" mean?
- "Iskolar ng Bayan" ("scholar of the nation") is the informal, widely used Filipino term for a student attending a state university — most often associated with the University of the Philippines, though it's used loosely for SUC students in general. It's a cultural label, not a separate program: RA 10931 is the actual law behind the free tuition that makes being an "Iskolar ng Bayan" mostly tuition-free today.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Implementation details of RA 10931 can vary by school and change over time — always confirm current coverage with your school's own registrar or UniFAST directly.