SCHOOL AID. Thousands of students line up to receive education assistance at the San Nicolas Mini Cultural Center in Laoag City on Aug. 17, 2023. Another education subsidy is available for tertiary students and the application is now ongoing. (File photo by Leilanie G. Adriano)
LAOAG CITY – Applications for the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) program in Ilocos Norte are now open to help struggling college students here to financially sustain their studies.
Open to all enrolled Filipino undergraduate students, applicants are advised to submit their letter of intent to Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos, along with their certificate of enrolment and billing for the first semester of academic year 2023-2024.
“We are now accepting TES applications from District One,” said Marcos in a statement on Monday as he enjoined eligible students to apply for the program.
The TES program is being implemented by the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education and the Commission on Higher Education.
The TES is a grants-in-aid program made possible through Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which institutionalizes free tuition and exemption from other fees in state universities and colleges (SUCs), and local universities and colleges in the Philippines.
Early on, the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has allocated PHP138.77 billion for higher education programs including student subsidies and free tuition in state universities and colleges under the 2023 General Appropriations Act.
The amount will be divided among SUCs with PHP107.04 billion, and the CHED with PHP31.73 billion.
In Ilocos Norte, thousands of students are availing of this program through the office of Rep. Marcos.
For state universities, each beneficiary belonging to the low-income bracket is entitled to cash assistance of PHP40,000 per school year.
TES grantees from private institutions, on the other hand, receive a higher amount, which covers PHP20,000 for tuition and an additional PHP40,000 allowance per academic year.
“I look forward to avail the educational subsidy to help my aunt in sending me to school, “said Christian Galvez, 20, of Barangay 57 Pila, Laoag City and a student of BS Criminology at the Data Center College of Laoag.
The amount, he said, “is a big help to cover my transportation and living allowance” as he relies solely on his aunt’s earnings from her livestock and vegetables business since he was orphaned at a young age. (PNA)
