THE FACULTY of Arts and Letters (AB) will maintain its present tuition rates, but will seek to adjust other fees and propose new ones for academic year 2027-2028.
Artlets faculty secretary Asst. Prof. Louie Benedict Ignacio said the faculty would present the same adjustments proposed last year for the approval of the University’s budget committee.
“I don’t think there will be a problem with it, since it has already been reviewed and presented to the budget committee [last year],” Ignacio told The Flame.
“We don’t see any reason to add anything more. The additions made last year were justifiable, so we will simply carry over what was discussed last year into this year’s proposal.”
While the proposed fee adjustments were previously approved for academic year 2026-2027, Ignacio said budget increases across academic units were held back because of the oil crisis caused by the Middle East conflict.
“[The decision] came out while the war was ongoing, so a series of austerity measures followed—the work-from-home setup, the EVMs (enhanced virtual mode), and so on,” he said.
The proposed adjustments and additional fees exist separately from the tuition.
Possible fee adjustments
Ignacio said among the existing fees proposed for adjustment are the retreat fee, learning materials, journal fund, student activity fund and local council fund.
The retreat fee is proposed to be increased from ₱2,900 to ₱3,800. For the ₱150 journal fund, the proposed adjusted rate is ₱208, while for the ₱400 student activity fund, the proposed new rate is ₱500.
A P2 increase for the P18 local council fund is also being proposed for the next academic year.
According to Ignacio, the faculty is looking to return to the three-day, two-night schedule for the seniors’ retreat with the adjusted fund. For the past four years, seniors have had their retreats for two days and one night.
Additional charges for learning materials include expenses for the printing of preliminary examinations and Scantron materials.
The student activity fund supporting student organizations within AB is divided among the Artlets Student Council, academic societies and interest organizations.
Possible new fees
Ignacio said seniors, Journalism juniors and Sociology students may also be charged new fees for special activities and services in the upcoming academic year.
Third-year Journalism students may be charged P2,540 for the use of the Communications Bureau facilities as part of their academic requirements in the first term. Junior and graduating Sociology students may also pay an additional P3,000 for their service-learning activities.
Notary services under additional fees may also be charged to Artlets seniors undergoing internship and on-the-job training. The services would be provided by the faculty’s alumni, Ignacio said.
The budget consultation between the AB student organizations and the Dean’s office was held on Oct. 19. F
