Free college education will remain a centerpiece of the 2026 national budget, but this time with significant policy adjustments designed to correct years of underfunding for state universities and colleges (SUCs).
Tingog Partylist Representative Jude Acidre announced that the ₱1.38-trillion education allocation—the largest in Philippine history—includes reforms to address what he described as a long-standing 20% funding gap.
In a televised interview, Acidre revealed that ₱12 billion has been set aside for the free college education program, covering both current requirements and unpaid obligations from previous years.
“For the longest time, we had a problem with the implementation of free higher education,” Acidre said, noting that reimbursements to SUCs were previously calculated using outdated enrollment figures rather than actual student numbers.
This practice, he explained, meant that the government reimbursed only about 80% of actual costs, leaving SUCs to absorb the remaining shortfall.
To cope, many institutions were forced to divert internally generated income—such as library and miscellaneous fees—away from facility upgrades and academic improvements just to sustain operations.
“Hindi na nagagamit sa improvement ng facilities kasi ginagamit na lang para takpan yung kakulangan,” Acidre said.
To resolve this, the 2026 budget earmarks ₱4 billion to ₱5 billion to settle reimbursement backlogs, effectively resetting the system.
“This is really a clean slate for higher education,” he said.
Acidre added that Congress has revised reimbursement rules, directing the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to base payments on actual enrollment figures moving forward. This change, he said, is expected to stabilize SUCs’ finances and enhance the quality of education nationwide.