The “Study Now, Pay Later” program has been stopped by CHED and in its place, the Unifast program which is said to be a” better” program.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) stopped the “Study Now, Pay Later” program that assists college students through loans to be paid after graduation due to “extremely low” payment rate.
CHED chair Prospero de Vera said that the government is forgoing this program because most who availed were not able to get jobs after graduation which makes them unable to earn enough money to pay off their loans.
“The payment rate was extremely low. It was less than 10 percent. The government was unable to collect because after the students graduate, government is unable to go after them anymore because if they don’t get jobs after they graduate, how can they pay their loans,” de Vera asked during the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education hearing.
The program has become a “Study Now, Pay Never” program because of the inability to pay off loans, the Inquirer reported.
Additional Assistance
CHED allocated P1 billion under the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (Unifast) for cash-strapped enrolled students.
This fund will be used to extend loans to those students who will have to pay before they graduate college.
“It is a system similar to what some of our universities like UP (University of the Philippines) is implementing now,” de Vera explained.
He compared the system to the UP loan program where students will borrow and if it is paid within the school year, it will have no interest. Otherwise, it must be paid before graduation or else the students will not be able to graduate.
De Vera noted that Unifast will be a “better” program than the “Study Now, Pay Later” Program.
Tags: #Education, #FinancialAssisstance, #CHED, #Programs