THE UNIVERSITY of the East turned down the request of students to waive the five percent surcharge fee, saying that the funds collected will be used to pay teaching and non-teaching personnel.

UE President Ester Garcia said that part of the fees are also used for repair and maintenance of the school.

“The University gives paramount consideration to its students so much that the University extended the payment period without surcharge for the 2nd semester of S.Y. 2019-2020 up to October 15, 2020 as well as for the 1st semester of S.Y. 2020-2021 up to December 28, 2020, cognizant that most were still adjusting to the new normal brought by the pandemic,” Garcia said in a statement.

However, because of the easing of quarantine restrictions, the school will no longer extend payment of fees for Academic Year 2020-2021 “as the fixed 5 percent surcharge is imposed on non-payment of school fees.”

“The surcharge is a control set by the University to make sure funds are available within the semester,” Garcia said.

She pointed out that it is the policy of the school that students need to settle their outstanding balances for the previous semester to be able to view their grades.

“This is one of the controls imposed by the University to ensure that students are assessed with appropriate fees during the semester and that payments by students are properly accounted for and reflected in their respective accounts,” Garcia explained.

She denied claims of students that payments have not changed on their on-the-job training amid the distance learning modality.

“Students who enroll in non-OJT subject/s in addition to OJT subject/s, however, are assessed with the regular miscellaneous fees. Nonetheless, it is worthy to note that the total fee was reduced by P600 this Summer 2021,” the university president said.