Educational institutions and study programmes
Philippine educational institutions and study programmes
Below, we explain what types of educational institutions and degree programmes there are in the Philippines. We also explain how we check whether these are recognised and/or accredited. We check the and to make sure that the quality is sufficient. We give the necessary information per educational sector.
Recognition
The government of a country grants an official status to an educational institution and/or study programme. Usually, if the government recognises an educational institution, all its study programmes are also recognised. However recognition may also be arranged at the programme level. This means that the government must recognise not only the educational institution, but also its study programmes. We only evaluate diplomas from recognised institutions and recognised study programmes. Read more about recognition in the EAR manual.
Accreditation
An organisation checks and assesses the quality of education. Usually the accreditation is valid for a certain period. In some countries, accreditation is compulsory, in others it is voluntary. The government of a country often appoints one or more organisations responsible for accrediting institutions and/or study programmes. In addition, there are also private accreditation organisations. We only mention and (in the case of diploma evaluations) consult accreditation organisations appointed by the government of that country. Read more about accreditation in the EAR manual.
Secondary education| diplomas
With regard to secondary education programmes, you have to pay special attention to the fact that a student has a recognised diploma. These are the recognised secondary education diplomas:
- Junior High Schoolo Diploma, the lower secondary education diploma;
- Grade 12/Senior High School Diploma, the upper secondary education diploa.
See Secondary education documents for a short explanation of the documents that students receive.
Secondary education | schools
Students can complete upper secondary education at a public or private school. Some schools are connected to a higher education institution.
Checking the recognition of schools
On the website of the Department of Education (DepEd), you can usually find an overview of schools that are allowed to offer upper secondary education. Unfortunately, the website is not accessible at the moment.
Higher education | educational institutions
Philippine higher education institutions can be either public or private. They can have different names, such as university, college, academy, institute or school. These institutions can offer both higher professional education and research-oriented higher education.
Public higher education institutions
Approximately 30% of Philippine higher educations institutions are public. Universities and colleges are either:
- established by the state (State Universities and Colleges, SUCs); or
- established by local authorities (Local Universities and Colleges, LUCs).
Private higher education institutions
About 70% of the Philippine higher education institutions are private. Some are religious (private sectarian), while others are non-religious (private non-sectarian).
Checking the recognition of higher education institutions
- Look up in which Philippine region the higher education institution is located. The region is sometimes mentioned on the institution’s website. If not, find out in which city the institution is located and to which region this city belongs.
- Go to the website of the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UNIFAST).
- Click on 'Select a Region' and choose the region of the educational institution.
- If the educational institution is displayed in the search results, check what is mentioned in the 3rd column:
- If it mentions 'LUC' or 'SUC', the educational institution is a recognised public higher education institution.
- If it mentions 'Private HEI', the educational institution is a recognised private higher education institution.
- If the educational institution is not displayed in the search results, it probably is not a recognised higher education institiuton.
Higher education | study programmes
For study programmes in higher education, you can check the following 2 things:
- recognition by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). This is compulsory.
- accreditation by private organisations. This is not compulsory.
Recognition by the CHED
The CHED checks higher education study programmes:
- Public higher education institutions need to register their study programmes with the CHED.
- Private educational institutions must request permission from the CHED for every study programme they offer:
- They first get a temporary permit for 2 years (initial permit).
- Then the initial permit is extended for 1 year.
- If, during the extension, the study programme meets the minimum requirements that the CHED has set for its recognition, the CHED recognises the study programme. This is called Government Recognition (GR).
Checking if a study programmes is recognised by the CHED
- On the CHED website, you can find overviews of recognised study programmes:
- If the CHED website is unavailable, you can do the following:
- Look up in which Philippine region the higher education institution is located. The region is sometimes mentioned on the institution’s website. If not, find out in which city the institution is located and to which region this city belongs.
- Search for the website of the regional CHED office. These websites are usually available. The CHED has several regional offices.
- You can sometimes find an overview of study programmes per higher education institution on the website of the regional CHED office.
Please note: higher education study programmes are usually governed by the CHED. But this is not always the case for associate programmes. Some associate programmes are approved by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Accreditation by private organisations
Higher education institutions can have their programmes accredited by private organisations. This is not compulsory. The Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP) oversees these private organisations for accreditation. There are 3 in the Philippines:
- Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU);
- Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA);
- Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities-Accrediting Council, Inc. (ACSCU-ACI).
Please note: accreditation is not compulsory, but it offers benefits for educational institutions. An accredited programme receives an accreditation level (Level I, II, III or IV). The higher the accreditation level, the more benefits there are. For example, from accreditation level 1 (Level I) onwards, educational institutions no longer need to apply for an SO number from the CHED for that study programme.
Checking if a study programme is accredited by PAASCU
- Go to the PAASCU database.
- Search for the educational institution of the study programme. They are ordered alphabetically.
- Is the educational institution mentioned in the database?
- Below on the name of the educational institution, click on 'Click to view accredited programs'.
- You now get an overview of accredited study programmes of this educational institution: the starting date (Initial Accreditation), the end date (Validity) and the accreditation level (Level).
- Is the educational institution not mentioned in the database? In that case, study programmes from this educational institution are probably not accredited by PAASCU.
Checking if a study programme is accredited by PACUCOA
- Go to the PACUCOA website.
- Open the overview of accredited study programmes. This is usually a PDF file.
- In the overview, search for the educational institution of the study programme.
- Is the educational institution listed in the overview? The accredited study programmes are listed below the name of the educational institution.
- 'Level' indicates the accreditation level of the study programme.
- 'Duration' indicates the starting and end date of the accreditation level.
- Is the educational institution not listed in the overview? In that case, study programmes from this educational institution are probably not accredited by PAASCU.
Checking if a study programme is accredited by ASCU-ACI
At the moment, ASCU-ACI does not provide online overviews of accredited study programmes. In some cases, information about ASCU-ACI accredited study programmes is mentioned on the website of a regional CHED office.