Commission on Higher Education

Background

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) was established through Republic Act No. 7722 otherwise known as the Higher Education Act of 1994. It was signed into law by President Fidel V. Ramos on 18 May 1994.

The creation of CHED was part of a broad agenda for reforms in the country's education system, outlined by the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) in 1992. Part of the reforms is the trifocalization of the education sector. The three governing bodies in the education sector are the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for tertiary and graduate education, the Department of Education (DepEd) for basic education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for technical-vocational and middle level education.

Mission

CHEDRO III shall put forward the mandate and thrusts of the Commission on Higher Education through transformative leadership, team spirit, enhanced organizational skills and internalized core values with the end-goal of coordinating the HEIs in the Region to the road map of the future.

Vision

CHEDRO III in pursuit of becoming the premier region will be manned by honest, competent, committed and accountable staff and personnel who perform their mandated functions effectively and efficiently to all their valued stakeholders.

CHED Mandate

Pursuant to Republic Act No. 7722, the Commission on Higher Education is mandated to undertake the following tasks:

promote quality education;
take appropriate steps to ensure that education shall be accessible to all;
ensure and protect academic freedom for the continuing intellectual growth, the advancement of learning and research, the development of responsible and effective leadership, the education of high level professionals, and the enrichment of historical and cultural heritage.

Per Section 8 of R.A. 7722, the CHED has the following powers and functions:

Formulate and recommend development plans, policies, priorities, and programs on research;
Recommend to the executive and legislative branches priorities and grants on higher education and research;
Set minimum standards for programs and institutions of higher learning recommended by panels of experts in the field and subject to public hearing, and enforced the same;
Monitor and evaluate the performance of programs and institutions of higher learning for appropriate incentives as well as the imposition of sanctions such as, but not limited to, diminution or withdrawal of subsidy, recommendation on the downgrading or withdrawal of accreditation, program termination or school course;
Identify, support and develop potential centers of excellence in program areas needed for the development of world-class scholarship, nation building and national development;
Recommend to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) the budgets of public institutions of higher learning as well as general guidelines for the use of their income;
Rationalize programs and institutions of higher learning and set standards, policies and guidelines for the creation of new ones as well as the conversion or elevation of schools to institutions of higher learning, subject to budgetary limitations and the number of institutions of higher learning in the province or region where creation, conversion or elevation is sought to be made;
Develop criteria for allocating additional resources such as research and program development grants, scholarships, and the other similar programs: Provided, that these shall not detract from the fiscal autonomy already enjoyed by colleges and universities;
Direct or redirect purposive research by institutions of higher learning to meet the needs of agro-industrialization and development;
Devise and implement resource development schemes;
Administer the Higher Education Development Fund, as described in Section 10 of R.A. 7722, which will promote the purposes of higher education;
Review the charters of institutions of higher learning and state universities and colleges including the chairmanship and membership of their governing bodies and recommend appropriate measures as basis for necessary action;
Promulgate such rules and regulations and exercise such other powers and functions as may be necessary to carry out effectively the purpose and objectives of R.A. 7722; and
Perform such other functions as may be necessary for its effective operations and for the continued enhancement, growth and development of higher education.