Tuition and Everything

In the month of July 2020, the Commission on Higher Education announced that Universities and Colleges are prepared for flexible learning in August 2020. As stated by CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera III “We are ready to open [classes] this August. No ifs, no buts. Learning must continue. We learn as one, we are ready,” What a great way to address the pandemic. Now, we won’t be worrying only about food, bills and other basic means to survive, we also get to worry about one more thing- tuition and everything that comes along with it. As response to the CHED’s announcement, Ateneo de Zamboanga University started the enrollment for the school year 2020-2021 in July promising a “No Tuition Increase”. The school decided to undergo Online Learning. In line with the enrollment, according to the MyAdZU portal, the college tuition and fees of SY:2020-2021 amounts to a total of not less than 8, 000 pesos per semester. The fees included are: Registration, Library, Medical, Civic & Social Development, Faculty Development, Facility Development, IT Fee, Technical Support, Guidance and Counselling, Instructional Materials, Student Government and I.D cards for new students. The tuition of course depends on the course taken and each unit may cost around 900 pesos above. Not to mention that there are also courses that have Laboratory fees and other specific fees. In total, there could be around 11,000+ pesos for school fees. All of these fees are necessary as you can see, but the school has changed its mode of learning. Instead of the traditional face-to-face setting, we entered online learning. Since the mode of learning has shifted, there are a number of once necessary school fees that turn to unnecessary ones. To start off, there are courses in need of laboratories and there are fees that come along with it. If it were the traditional set up, students will be needing a bunch of materials for laboratory exercises which of course needs funds. But since there are strict health protocols, students are not allowed to go to school to perform these lab activities. Second is the medical fees, usually, the medical fees go to the clinic, and the annual check-ups for students. But as of the moment, the clinic is not accessible to students. The library too is currently not accessible to students and all of the things mentioned should have at least a decrease of needed payment. But then the school has “No Tuition Increase” which initially means that there is no tuition decrease too. The amount of school fees, except for the Student government, stayed the same. Since the form of education had shifted due to the pandemic, the needs of the students in learning changes too. Many students complain about paying for activities and facilities that they do not get to benefit from at the moment. “Sayang ang bayad, di naman nagagamit!” But we cannot deny the institution’s efforts to cater to these newfound needs and adjust to the new mode of learning. For instance, the facilities like laboratories; instead of having students perform on hand, instructors use the facility to perform the activities and record it for viewing and observation in class. As students, it is also our responsibility to know what we are paying for. In that way, we can monitor the things we get out of the money we give out. In the same way, we will not wonder where our school fees go.