“Before kasi, kahoy ang front door namin. Pero ngayon, nagpagawa na kami at bato na siya. So natakot akong sasabihin [ng panel] ‘ay, hindi na ‘to mukhang mahirap, huwag na natin bigyan [ng subsidy],’” Emma, a 23-year-old third-year geography student who requested not to disclose her real name, recounted. 

To cope, Emma likes to poke fun at her experiences applying for the grants-in-aid program (GIAP) under the Student Learning Assistance System (SLAS). But her expenses used up on her three-jeepney commute from Valenzuela to UP Diliman (UPD), other fees, and food costs are no joking matter. 

Along with 2,350 other SLAS recipients, Emma banks on this aid to bear the blow of daily expenses and ensure her continued schooling. Students accepted for GIAP receive discounts amounting to 33, 60, 80, and 100 percent of their tuition–particularly of use to more than 1,500 students not covered by the Free Tuition Law. Some, based on their capacity to pay, are also given a monthly stipend, which is eyed by those like Emma who are covered by free tuition. 

First-hand accounts from both applicants and the UPD Office of Scholarships and Grants (OSG), however, show that SLAS currently falls short in addressing students’ needs. The drawn-out appeals and application processes pose a barrier that walls off students from much-needed aid.

Delays and Disarray

Tiers of bureaucratic hurdles, opaque criteria for granting, and chronic delays put into question SLAS’s pro-student character.

Emma weathered this set of challenges thrice before being grouped in the full discount plus stipend (FDS) bracket. In her freshman and sophomore years, she got 80 and 100 percent off her tuition respectively. It was just in November 2023, after appealing, when she learned that her third application in September 2023 landed her in the FDS category–results that came two months late.

By the time Emma acquired FDS standing, she had already filed for leave of absence, not knowing her results would come in November. Until now, she is still in correspondence with the OSG on whether she may obtain the amount disbursed during the time she was on leave.

When she decided to appeal to claim her allowance last year, she observed one thing: “Parang nagmamakaawa ka na bigyan ng scholarship.” Appellants are provided Google Drive folders where they are tasked to upload pictures of their dwelling spaces, family members, proof of income, and utility bills.

Although the annual income ranges that dictate applicants’ bracket assignments are public, many students have complained online that their bracket grouping does not match their family’s income. Emma hopes for more transparency regarding the qualitative criteria the deliberating panel uses to classify applicants. 

Her call is a pressing one: from Academic Years 2020 to 2024, the number of SLAS applicants placed in the No Discount bracket has consistently below 20 percent of all applicants, according to data by OSG. This year, 193 applicants were not given any tuition discount or stipend.

Behind the Scenes

These are figures, however, that the OSG’s Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program arm strives to reduce, said Joy Aberin, senior scholarships affairs officer of 17 years. 

Evaluating thousands of applications is a tall order that begins with vetting applicants’ submissions. Measures taken span from contacting applicants’ professors and college secretaries to spontaneously visiting the applicant’s homestead. 

Cases of incomplete submissions also significantly bog down deliberations because staff are forced to individually email applicants with deficiencies. To lessen such mishaps, the OSG opens a helpdesk to attend to students’ concerns, which sees peak activity during the deadline for appeals submissions. During such times, staff are compelled to continue working even until midnight to answer queries, Aberin recounted.

In weekly deliberation sessions, the OSG presents each applicant and appellant's case to the UPD Committee on Scholarships and Financial Assistance. The former does not hold rein over the provision of grants. It is the latter, the members of whom were not disclosed, that decides which cases are granted aid. In such meetings, every case takes at least 30 minutes to deliberate on, making each session span anywhere from two to twelve hours.

This methodology is difficult to sustain given the sheer volume of appeals the office receives. As of March 15, the number of applicants who appealed for membership in different brackets reached 1,059. This is nearly half of the 2,351 total number of SLAS recipients. Among the appeals, 370 cases remain unresolved.

Paving Smoother Paths

Improvements on the SLAS are already underway as a technical working group will be convened to revise the application process, including the questionnaire and criteria used to assess an applicant, according to Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Shari Oliquino. For Aberin, another important enhancement comes in the form of streamlining the appeals process. She floated the creation of an ”integrated auxiliary system” connected to databases of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Digitization of such procedures can skirt the manual uploading process and allow OSG staff to access pertinent student records at their own convenience.

Such proposals, however, will not prosper if the state continues its practice over the decade of only giving the university less than half of its requested budget. Proper funding will allow grant-serving offices to streamline their processes, effectively leading to the provision of more grants. 

At the end of the day, SLAS is seen only as a temporary recourse. The burden to eliminate the factors that necessitate aid in the first place rests on the state that has the mandate to ensure accessible education for all. The government's commitment to this duty can pave the way for students like Emma to be fully emancipated from having to undergo a process that costs them much time, energy, and money. ●