The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) approved on February 13, 2018 the inclusion of 78 local universities and colleges (LUCs), which have undergone institutional and program evaluation by CHED since 2017, to be eligible to accept students who will avail of free tuition and other school fees under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or RA 10931 starting Academic Year 2018- 2019.
These LUCs are given 2 years to comply with all other institutional and program requirements in order to be part of RA 10931 and failure to do so will result in their exclusion from the list of LUCs to avail benefits under RA 10931.
Furthermore, on June 18, 2018, the Commission approved the provision of financial assistance for capacity building of LUCs towards obtaining Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) as a requirement for continuous availment under RA 10931.
The Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) is a recognition that the specific degree programs being offered by SUCs/LUCs are fully compliant with the policies, standards and guidelines of CHED. To ensure that the existing programs of the SUCs/LUCs are quality assured, the issuance of COPC is being requested from CHED.
Four undergraduate courses in URS, namely, BS in Music Education, BS in Hospitality Management, BS in Tourism and BS in Computer Engineering are already COPC certified. Other 48 undergraduate courses are undergoing the same process of application.
