DLSU-D tuition fee concerns reach NUSP and other online entities

DLSU-D gained attention from various student organizations such as the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) National and Southern Tagalog (NUSP-ST) chapters, along with the Coalition of Concerned Lasallians (CCL) due to unaddressed tuition fee concerns. 

On August 20, NUSP National raised an alert about the concerns of the College of Liberal Arts and Communication (CLAC) students on excessive tuition fees for the academic year (AY) 2020-2021.

According to reports, the fees included P500 for recollection/retreat fee, P1,800 for the National Service Training Program (NSTP) fee, and P900 for the Student Engagement Program (SEP) fee, which the Office of Student Services (OSS) initially announced as suspended.

In line with this, NUSP National called for DLSU-D’s urgent release of the tuition fee breakdown and allocation of fees for the upcoming AY with the hashtags #EducationIsARight and #AyokongMagmahal.

“We rehash CHED’s and the Duterte admin’s responsibilities of addressing these ills and come up with pro-student solutions that will fit the demands of the Filipino studentry during the pandemic,” the post reads. 

Two days before NUSP National’s post, NUSP-ST also released an alert to DLSU-D on the continuous charge for the miscellaneous fees during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Along with the calls of #NoToTOFI, #AyokongMagmahalAngDLSUD, and #LigtasNaBalikEskwela, the organization called to review the “blatant agenda of hampering the access of students to quality education”, due to excessive charges in the University’s tuition fee despite the lack of on-site classes.

As per the Coalition of Concerned Lasallians (CCL) post on August 17, the coalition called for a proper breakdown of fees in the enrollment process for the upcoming AY.

Tuition fee concerns in memes

Various “memes” have circulated around social media, including a post by Facebook page Bulwak Partylist, which vaguely pertained to the tuition fee, garnering almost 2,000 reactions and more than 1,700 shares as of July 25.  

The Marketing Communications Office (MCO) found the post due to its increasing engagement at the time and emailed the DLSU-D community to notify them about launching an investigation for the page. Attached to their email is a screenshot of the “deceiving or malicious” post.   

The office also called to report the page, prompting Bulwak Partylist to delete the said post and address the administration.   

Aside from citing their mistake of using the DLSU-D logo as an act of promotion, the page said “kung gusto naman talaga ng estudyante mag-aral sa isang private university, mag e-enroll at mag e-enroll sila kahit malaki o maliit ang tuition fee nito”. 

Recently this August 30, Bulwak Partylist posted a meme pertaining to the struggles of enrollment due to the continuous charge of facility and maintenance fees despite the lack of on-site classes.

“Masisisi mo ba siya kung ‘di siya nag-enroll kase mahal pa rin ang tuition kahit online class na,” the post reads.          

Increasing tuition fee concerns posted by DLSU-D students on social media prove Bulwak Partylist’s statement. Additionally, through The HERALDO FILIPINO’s News React on student concerns this semester, Facebook user Patricia Estallo commented on the lack of clear guidelines upon enrollment.

Furthermore, in a viral post about the “Top 10 Worst Schools to Study At during the Pandemic”, the youth group of Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) conducted an open-ended survey to gather answers from students in various schools.

The group mentioned that for DLSU-D, results showed that the University has “high tuition and other school fees” and “confusing enrollment guidelines,” among other concerns. 

What we know about the tuition fee refund

First-year enrollment was scheduled on June 29 until July 7, extended until September 12. Meanwhile, the schedule for the second year to fifth-year students and graduate studies began last August 15 until September 30.

With only the confirmation of the tuition fee refund announced by University Brother President Augustine (Gus) Boquer on June 1, reports on the breakdown of refund fees for the second semester AY 2019-2020 were spread through group messages within colleges. 

According to the messages said to be from the Accounting Office, the refund consists of 50 percent of the medical fee, dental fee, and lab fee; 65 percent of the air conditioning fee and library fee; 80 percent of the practicum fee; and 100 percent of test questionnaire fee, museum fee, and botanical garden fee.  

The HERALDO FILIPINO has reached out to the Office of the Vice-Chancellor of Finance and Administrative Services (OVCFAS) and the Finance Office via email on July 7. 

A follow-up email regarding the tuition fee refund and tuition fee reduction was sent to the OVCFAS and the Finance Office on August 10 due to the lack of response. Moreover, the publication also contacted the offices by calling their respective landline numbers and texting the available phone numbers. 

As of press time, there has been no response from the administration on tuition fee concerns and no official confirmation yet about the spreading Accounting Office message.