TL;DR: Tulong Dunong is a non-repayable grant-in-aid administered by CHED through UniFAST under Republic Act 10931. It pays PHP 7,500 per semester, or PHP 15,000 per academic year, under UniFAST Memorandum Circular No. 02, series of 2026, effective from the first semester of AY 2026-2027. You file it through your school's scholarship office, which endorses qualified applicants to the CHED Regional Office; you never apply to CHED directly. The 2026 guidelines set no peso income ceiling — need is documented by a Certificate of Indigency, and grants are subject to prioritisation and available funds.
What Tulong Dunong is
Tulong Dunong is a grant-in-aid, not a loan. It is funded by national government appropriation, administered by the Commission on Higher Education through the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, and it exists under the same law that created free tuition and the Tertiary Education Subsidy: Republic Act 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
Its purpose is the gap that free tuition does not close. Even where tuition costs nothing, miscellaneous fees, books, transport and daily living costs stop students from finishing. Tulong Dunong is aimed at that.
What it pays, and the income ceiling that no longer applies
Section 3 of UniFAST Memorandum Circular No. 02, series of 2026, sets the grant at PHP 7,500 per semester, or PHP 15,000 per academic year. Continuing grantees and new grantees for AY 2026-2027 receive the same amount, and the circular notes it may be increased if the Board approves.
The bigger correction concerns eligibility. Most guides to Tulong Dunong, and until recently the programme page on unifast.gov.ph, state a combined household income ceiling of PHP 400,000. That ceiling is not in the 2026 revised guidelines. Section 2 of MC 02 s.2026 requires only Filipino citizenship and enrolment in a first undergraduate degree at a SUC, CHED-recognised LUC or private HEI covered by a MOA with CHED-UniFAST. Financial need is evidenced by the Certificate of Indigency in the documentary requirements, not tested against a peso threshold, and the circular's repealing clause supersedes earlier issuances that conflict with it.
The practical effect: if your household earns a little over PHP 400,000, do not rule yourself out. Grants remain subject to prioritisation and the year's appropriation, so a slot is never guaranteed, but the threshold that used to disqualify people on paper is gone.
Amounts under UniFAST programmes are operational decisions taken against each year's budget, which is why they are not written into the statute. Confirm the figure in force with your scholarship office before you build a budget around it.
Who is eligible
The eligibility structure is stable even where the thresholds move.
| Requirement | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Filipino citizenship | Documented by PSA birth certificate |
| First undergraduate degree | Students who already hold a bachelor's degree do not qualify, and neither do graduate students |
| Enrolment at a CHED-recognised HEI | State universities, local universities and colleges, and private HEIs listed in the CHED Registry |
| Demonstrated financial need | Evidenced by a Certificate of Indigency, with no peso ceiling in the 2026 guidelines |
| Not receiving other national government student aid | Free higher education at a SUC or LUC is the express exception; one-time grants such as AICS are also carved out |
| Good moral character | Certified by the school or barangay |
The one to check early is the second-to-last. If you are already a Tertiary Education Subsidy beneficiary, you are on a different track, and applying for both at once can stall both. Our TES guide explains how that programme ranks applicants and what it pays, and our TES versus Tulong Dunong versus free tuition comparison sets the three side by side.
Documents to prepare
These are the items schools consistently ask for. Regional offices sometimes add to the list, so confirm with your coordinator.
- Certificate of Enrolment or Certificate of Registration, certified or electronically generated, showing your enrolled units.
- Certificate of Indigency, issued and signed by the Punong Barangay of your place of residence. Expect a small processing fee and allow a few days.
- School ID, photocopied front and back, current and valid.
- Accomplished application form, from your school's scholarship office.
- PSA birth certificate, where your school requires it for identity verification.
- Income documentation, which may include an income tax return, a BIR Form 2316, or a certificate of no income where the household has no formal earnings.
Get the barangay certificate first. It is the item most often outside your control and the one that most often makes an application late.
The application chain
Understanding who hands what to whom saves weeks.
- Check eligibility honestly before spending anything on documents, particularly the bar on holding other national assistance.
- Go to your school's scholarship office and ask for the current intake schedule, the current amount, and the exact document list for your region.
- Request your Certificate of Indigency from the barangay hall.
- Request your COE or COR from the registrar, and check the unit count is visible on the document.
- Complete the application form and submit everything as a complete set. Incomplete applications are typically returned rather than held.
- The school screens and endorses qualified applicants to the CHED Regional Office. You cannot skip this step or do it yourself.
- CHED processes the endorsement and approval follows at the UniFAST level. Timelines vary by region and intake volume.
- Disbursement runs through your school, usually credited against your balance or released through a designated channel.
Practical notes: apply early within the intake window rather than at the deadline, because the programme is demand-driven against a fixed appropriation. Re-submit your enrolment document each term, since continued disbursement is tied to proof of current enrolment. And watch your school email and bulletin, because notices about missing documents go through school channels, not to you directly from CHED.
Where it sits among the other options
If Tulong Dunong does not come through, or if you are not eligible for it, the other routes under the same law and the same commission are worth knowing:
- Free tuition at state universities and colleges under RA 10931 Section 4, which is automatic for eligible students rather than applied for. See our CHED free tuition guide and the list of free-tuition universities.
- The Tertiary Education Subsidy under Section 7, which pays PHP 20,000 an academic year at a SUC or LUC and PHP 27,000 at a private HEI under MC 01 s.2026 — more than Tulong Dunong, which is why it is worth applying for first.
- The statutory student loan programme under Section 8, which covers tertiary education at state and private institutions and registered TVET programmes, including licensure review loans, with repayment collected through SSS or GSIS contributions once income passes a Compulsory Repayment Threshold.
- Non-government funding, which is not subject to the national double-dipping restriction. Start with our roundup of scholarships for college students in the Philippines.
For the full map of government aid, see our government student aid overview.
The one habit worth keeping
Verify the amount every year, from the UniFAST circular or your school, before you commit to a plan that depends on it. Programme figures under UniFAST move with the appropriation, and the internet does not update when they do — the PHP 400,000 ceiling is still being repeated years after it stopped being a requirement.
Looking for a school you can afford? Compare tuition and programmes across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- CHED-UniFAST - Memorandum Circular No. 02, s. 2026, 2026 Revised TDP Guidelines (official PDF) - Sec. 2 qualification requirements and Sec. 3 grant amount
- CHED-UniFAST - Memorandum Circular No. 01, s. 2026, 2026 Revised TES Guidelines (official PDF) - Sec. 7 bars TDP beneficiaries from TES
- Republic Act No. 10931, Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act - full text
- CHED-UniFAST - Tulong Dunong Program page
