LEGAZPI CITY (PIA) -– The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) – Bicol is now accepting application for the State Scholarship and Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA) for incoming first year students.

“The CHED Scholarship Programs (CSPs) are intended for incoming first year students who are eligible for college whose General Weighted Average (GWA) is at least 96% or its equivalent for Full Merit Program and 93% up to 95% or its equivalent for Half Merit Program,” CHED Bicol education program specialist Marilou B. Llarando said at the Talakayan sa PIA Albay program.

Scholarship requirements

The applicant must enroll in recognized priority programs in private higher education institutions (HEIs) or state universities and colleges (SUCs)/or accredited local universities and colleges (LUCs) with Certificates of Program Compliance (COPC).

PESFA scholars in private HEIs can receive Php 120,000 and Php 60,000 annully for full merit and half merit programs respectively, while scholars in SUCs and LUCs can get Php 80,000 for full merit and Php 40,000  annually for half merit programs.

Llarando said the application for scholarship was suspended last year. Scholarship is ongoing for 2, 656 scholars.

“There are no allocated slots for incoming 2^nd year students per CMO No. 11 series of 2021 but they can avail the UniFAST such as the Tulong Dunong program,” she said.

UNIFAST, which stands for the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education Act include scholarships, grants-in-aid, student loans and other specialized forms of Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAPs).

Llorando added that applicants with required GWA whose chosen courses are not in the priority programs cannot avail of  the PESFA scholarship.

“There are chosen courses since it is the result of the discussions and deliberations of the technical working group members composed of representatives from CHED and UniFAST secretariat in coordination with other government agencies, in line with the National Development Plan on manpower demands,” she said.

Required documents

Application and submission of required documents can only be done online at bit.ly/csp5appform. 

“Documents will be submitted first through online application. The applicants will have to wait for text message from CHED RO5. After the ranking, the qualified applicant will submit the hard copies of the required documents for verification.

The required documents are: certified true copy of birth certificate; duly certified true copy of high school report card for incoming freshmen students eligible for college (high school graduate); and duly certified true copy of grades for Grade 11 and 1st semester of Grade 12 for graduating high school students.

Any of the following can be submitted for income requirement: latest ITR (BIR Form No. 2316 CY 2020) of parents or guardian if employed; certificate of tax exemption from the BIR; Certificate of indigency from their Barangay; Certificate/Case Study from DSWD; and atest copy of contract or proof of income for children of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and seafarers.

Gross income of parents or guardian must not be more than Php 400,000.00.

For Bicol residents only

Only residents in the Bicol region can apply for the CSP in the region, but the scholarship grant can be used in any recognized school and with priority program as the chosen course.

“Its ok if the school is in another place or via online, so long as scholar can submit the documents for the financial assistance to be paid directly to the scholar. There is a need to open Landbank account where the financial benefits will be sent,” Llorando said.

For more information and updates on CHED scholarship programs, visit the official website www.chedro5stufap.com or the official Facebook page at Ched Stufaps Region-V. (SAA/PIA5/Albay)