TL;DR: The Iskolar ng Bayan Act, Republic Act No. 10648, is narrower than its reputation. It grants the top ten graduates of each public high school, plus one extra slot per 500 graduates at larger schools, the full amount of tuition and other school fees for the first year of college only. After that, Section 7 sends beneficiaries to regular CHED financial assistance programmes. Since RA 10931 made tuition free at SUCs and CHED-recognised LUCs anyway, the financial value of the first-year grant at a public institution is now largely absorbed, and what actually moves the needle for a poor student is the living allowance: the Tertiary Education Subsidy at PHP 20,000 per academic year in an SUC or LUC and PHP 27,000 in a private HEI from FY 2023, or a DOST-SEI scholarship.
Most guides to this law describe benefits it does not grant: monthly stipends, book allowances, uniform allowances, multi-year coverage. RA 10648 is two pages of operative text and it grants none of those. Understanding what it actually does, and what has changed around it since 2014, is the difference between a plan that works and a family surprised in second year.
What RA 10648 Actually Says
| Provision | What it establishes |
|---|---|
| Section 2 | Policy of democratising access to higher education through a scholarship for top public high school graduates entering SUCs |
| Section 3 | Coverage: the top ten of the graduating class of each public high school, plus one additional slot per 500 graduates at larger schools, allocated to the next-ranking students; all must meet SUC admission requirements |
| Section 4 | For six years beginning SY 2015-2016, automatic admission to the SUC of choice within the region for qualifying top ten graduates, subject to graduating within two years of application and obtaining the SUC's minimum qualifying score |
| Section 5 | An SUC may cap admissions where eligible applicants exceed its prior enrolment average by more than five per cent |
| Section 6 | CHED, DepEd and the SUCs coordinate implementation; LGUs, private institutions and corporations are encouraged to supplement |
| Section 7 | The grant covers the full amount of tuition and other school fees for the first year of college; thereafter beneficiaries access regular CHED financial assistance if qualified |
| Section 8 | SUCs report annually to CHED on admissions and academic performance |
Three things follow from that table that are worth stating plainly.
It is a one-year grant. Not four, not "renewable subject to grades". One year, then you are in the ordinary financial assistance queue with everybody else.
It was as much about admission as about money. Section 4's automatic admission route was arguably the more valuable half of the law for a strong student from a public high school, and it was written with a six-year horizon from SY 2015-2016. Whether and how it operates now is a question for the specific SUC, not for a blog.
It has an escape valve for the SUCs. Section 5 lets an institution limit intake where qualifying applicants would push enrolment more than five per cent above its historical average. The guarantee is real but not unlimited.
Disclaimer: SchoolFinderPH does not administer or process any scholarship. Eligibility, application windows and award amounts are set by CHED, UniFAST, DOST-SEI and the individual institutions. Confirm every requirement with the granting body before relying on it.
What Changed: RA 10931 Absorbed the Tuition Problem
Three years after RA 10648, Republic Act No. 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, made tuition and other school fees free for eligible students at State Universities and Colleges, CHED-recognised Local Universities and Colleges, and state-run technical-vocational institutions. The law defines the covered fees to include subject and course charges together with fees covering other necessary costs supportive of instruction, itemising library, computer, laboratory and athletic fees.
That is precisely the benefit RA 10648 grants for one year. So for a student at an SUC today, the Iskolar ng Bayan grant largely overlaps something they already have.
Free tuition is nonetheless conditional, and the conditions matter for anyone planning four years ahead. Eligibility is lost by already holding a bachelor's degree from any HEI, by failing to comply with the institution's admission and retention policies, or by failing to complete the degree within a year after the period prescribed for the programme. Our free tuition guide covers this in full, and free tuition universities in the Philippines covers where it applies.
Where the Money Actually Is: Living Costs
Once tuition is handled, the binding constraint on a low-income student is subsistence: board, transport, food, materials and connectivity. Two programmes address that directly, and both are worth more to such a student than any tuition waiver.
Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES). A grant-in-aid supporting the cost of tertiary education for priority students in SUCs, CHED-recognised LUCs and private HEIs, administered through UniFAST. Under Section 4 of UniFAST Memorandum Circular No. 01, series of 2026, the benefit is PHP 20,000 per academic year for SUC and LUC students and PHP 27,000 per academic year for private HEI students, with additional benefits of PHP 10,000 per academic year for a person with disability under TES-3A and a PHP 8,000 one-time reimbursement for licensure examination takers under TES-3B. Eligibility requires Filipino citizenship, compliance with the institution's admission and retention policies, no previous undergraduate degree, and not overstaying in the programme. Prioritisation for AY 2026-2027 runs first to students in households in the most updated Listahanan, and then to children or dependents of solo parents in active status and members of Indigenous Cultural Communities, ranked by household per capita income. Awards are subject to prioritisation and the availability of funds. See our TES guide.
Tulong Dunong Program (TDP). A separate subsidy paying PHP 7,500 per regular semester, or PHP 15,000 per academic year, under Section 3 of UniFAST Memorandum Circular No. 02, series of 2026, subject to prioritisation and funds. Section 2 requires Filipino citizenship and enrolment in a first undergraduate degree at an SUC, CHED-recognised LUC or private HEI covered by a MOA with CHED-UniFAST, and you must not be a beneficiary of TES, CHED Scholarship Programs or other national government-funded student financial assistance. The 2026 guidelines carry no peso income ceiling. See our Tulong Dunong guide.
DOST-SEI undergraduate scholarships. Reported benefits for the 2026 intake include a tuition subsidy of up to PHP 40,000 per academic year, a monthly living allowance, and a learning materials and connectivity allowance, alongside further allowances and insurance. Applicants sit the DOST-SEI Scholarship Examination, held in February for the 2026 round, and must enrol in a priority science and technology programme. A return service obligation applies. The scholarship is not confined to state universities; it can be used at eligible institutions including private ones. See our DOST scholarship guide for the current requirements and application route.
How the Pieces Fit Together
| Programme | What it pays | Where it applies | Governing instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| RA 10648 Iskolar ng Bayan | Tuition and school fees, first year only | SUCs | RA 10648, Sections 3 to 7 |
| RA 10931 free higher education | Tuition and other school fees, while eligible | SUCs, CHED-recognised LUCs, state-run TVIs | RA 10931 |
| Tertiary Education Subsidy | PHP 20,000 per AY (SUC/LUC) or PHP 27,000 (private HEI) | SUCs, LUCs, private HEIs | UniFAST MC 01, s. 2026 |
| Tulong Dunong Program | PHP 7,500 per regular semester, PHP 15,000 per AY | SUCs, LUCs, private HEIs | UniFAST MC 02, s. 2026 |
| DOST-SEI undergraduate | Tuition subsidy plus monthly living allowance | Eligible HEIs, public and private | DOST-SEI programme rules |
Read that table as a sequence rather than a menu. Tuition is handled by RA 10931 at public institutions; the Iskolar ng Bayan grant sits on top of it for one year and mattered more before 2017; the living-cost programmes are what you should actually be applying for; and DOST-SEI is the strongest single package if your programme is in scope and you can sit the examination.
What to Do, in Order
- Confirm your free tuition eligibility first, because it is the largest benefit and it is conditional. Read the institution's retention policy the week you enrol, not the semester you breach it.
- Apply for TES through your institution's financial aid office. TES is processed through the school, not by applying directly to CHED or UniFAST, and prioritisation runs on DSWD data rather than on merit.
- If you are entering a science or technology programme, sit the DOST-SEI examination. It is the only route to a substantial monthly allowance for most students, and the application window opens well before the examination.
- Ask your SUC directly about Iskolar ng Bayan and any institutional scholarships, including how the automatic admission provision is currently applied. Institutional programmes are frequently less competitive than national ones and rarely well advertised.
- Check your LGU. Provincial, city and municipal scholarship programmes exist widely, are less competitive, and are almost never listed anywhere central.
- Declare every grant you hold to every grantor. Duplication rules are strict and concealment costs you everything, not just the duplicate.
Keeping What You Win
- Meet the general weighted average requirement each term. Most institutional and national programmes set one, and one weak term can trigger probation.
- Carry the required load. Underloading disqualifies under several programmes and can also push you past the completion period that RA 10931 eligibility depends on.
- Resolve incompletes inside the grace period. An unresolved INC behaves like a failure for retention purposes at many institutions.
- Submit renewal documents on time. Missing a deadline loses the term, and lost terms are rarely restored.
- Track your completion clock. RA 10931 eligibility ends a year after the prescribed period for the programme, which is the constraint that catches students who shift course.
Our guides to CHED scholarship requirements, UniFAST and how to get a scholarship cover the application mechanics in more depth, and state universities in the Philippines lists where to apply.
Disclaimer: scholarship amounts, prioritisation rules and application windows change with each funding cycle and are subject to the availability of funds. Verify current terms with CHED, UniFAST, DOST-SEI or the institution before relying on any figure here.
Sources
- Republic Act No. 10648 — Iskolar ng Bayan Act of 2014, full text (LawPhil)
- Republic Act No. 10931 — Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, full text (LawPhil)
- UniFAST — Tertiary Education Subsidy and Tulong Dunong Program, benefits and eligibility
- UniFAST — official website
- Commission on Higher Education — official website
- DOST Region IX — 2026 DOST-SEI undergraduate scholarships application
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