THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management lauded the Commission on Higher Education for its excellent performance for Fiscal Year 2021.

The DBM found that CHED exceeded all its targets, with notably high accomplishment rates in some indicators.

“The accomplishments of CHED proved its commitment of delivering dynamic tertiary education services to the public,” DBM Undersecretary Tina Rose Marie Canda said in a written review sent to CHED.

CHED’s financial performance achieved 92% in 2021, higher than its 82 percent performance in 2020.

The budget utilization of CHED prior to the Duterte administration was 78%.

CHED has two major programs — the Higher Education Regulation Program and Higher Education Development Program — for which the budget allocated in the FY 2021 General Appropriations Act was P427.853 million and P49.962 billion, respectively.

The HERP covers the regular activities of CHED such as monitoring and evaluation of higher education programs, formulation of policies for higher education institutions and development of standards for higher education.

The bulk of HEDP funds go to various scholarship programs including the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education with a budget of P4.288 billion.

CHED’s financial performance showed very high obligation rates for UAQTE at 99%, StuFAPS at 90%, and Subsidy for Tuition Fees of Medical Students in SUCs at 68%.

The commission shifted to cash-based budgeting for most of its programs starting 2020.

The practice of synchronizing the budget by fiscal year, and not by academic year, and the direct release of funds to CHED ROs for the implementation of the Tertiary Education Subsidy and Tulong Dunong Program, proved to be effective in improving the obligation rate of CHED, the DBM said.

Meanwhile, CHED’s revenue performance recorded a notable accomplishment rate of 129%.

Canda said that this was due to the increase in the collection of permit, application, and inspection fees.

CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III said that the agency also got a positive review in 2020.

“With this year’s results of the DBM’s review to serve as a guide, we will now focus on improving our disbursement rate to ensure the timely delivery of its programs,” he added.