San juan city: No higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines must be left behind as the administration fortifies its internationalization efforts, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said on Wednesday. This came after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s statement in his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA), highlighting more than 100 globally ranked HEIs, most of them State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).
According to Philippines News Agency, during the post-SONA forum in San Juan City, CHED Chairperson Shirley Agrupis assured to further boost its international affairs services (IAS) to uphold the inclusivity of internationalization among HEIs. 'The objective of the HEI is to increase the quality, because no one should be left behind,' she said in Filipino. 'We will strengthen the programs in the international affairs services so that everyone in marginalized HEIs will also elevate and be recognized on the international stage.'
As of July, 171 Philippine HEIs have gained global recognition, far exceeding the initial 2025 target of 110 and up from just 22 in 2022. Under the Marcos administration, CHED has ramped up participation in global education fairs, sponsored faculty immersions abroad, and conducted workshops in compliance with global ranking metrics.
The CHED, likewise, echoed the President's commitments to secure at least 'one graduate per poorest of the poor' family in the country. Agrupis particularly mentioned the continuous validation to benefit more qualified scholars from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) with financial subsidy through its Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES). She said their stringent validation is sourced from the list of 4Ps families from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
'The vision of our President is that for every single household in the list who belongs to the poorest of the poor should be at least a graduate of a Technical Vocational Education or college. We are nearing to achieve that,' she said. In Academic Year 2024-2025, only about 300,000 out of the more than 535,000 qualified beneficiaries from 4Ps were granted financial subsidies. 'In order for us to accommodate around 161,000 qualifiers in our list, we need around PHP4.4 billion,' Agrupis said.
For 2026, the CHED was granted PHP20 billion to sustain financial support for the ongoing 4Ps scholars. In addition to supporting students from poor families under the Free Higher Education Law, Agrupis also highlighted the launch of the 'Triple A' or Presidential Merit Scholarship, designed to recognize and support top-performing students across the country. 'We created the Presidential Merit Scholarship, which we call the 'Triple A' scholarship, to target the best of the best from the 12,000 senior high schools nationwide,' Agrupis said.
She added that the program, as promised by the President in his SONA, will also include qualified students from middle-income families - those who may not be considered among the poorest, but still struggle to afford to go to their 'dream school.' 'These families may not be extremely poor, but they can't afford to send their children to their dream schools. This scholarship is for them too,' she explained.
The Triple A scholarship will prioritize students enrolling in 'hard-to-fill' and high-impact programs, such as the health sciences, agriculture, fisheries, digital technology, and artificial intelligence (AI).
