THE COMMISSION on Higher Education warned the public against individuals or groups posing as officials and personnel of the Unified Student Financial Assistance System who solicit money for Tertiary Education Subsidy program eligibility.

UniFAST is an attached agency of CHED and the primary implementer of the Free Higher Education and the Tertiary Education Subsidy program under Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education law.

CHED made the warning after receiving a complaint from a certain group of schools who met fake UniFAST representatives  who offered a deal in exchange for facilitating their UniFAST accreditation.

The said individuals also held a ceremonial awarding of UniFAST certificates of accreditation to other member schools without the consent or knowledge of the UniFAST Secretariat.

“These posers trying to coax other schools to be accredited in the TES program are not even HEIs but members of one of the secondary school group branches, so they have no business with CHED. Let us be wary and do a fact-check especially when there’s payment involved and a promise of guaranteed TES slots to its students,” CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera III said.

De Vera stressed that all transactions are done through the higher education institutions and CHED offices. There are no groups or organizations authorized by CHED to recruit or process papers of students.

UniFAST acting Executive Director Ryan Estevez said the agency is investigating the matter and has tapped the National Bureau of Investigation for help.

The TES is a grant-in aid program funded by the government that follows a prioritization scheme in its selection of qualified grantees from public universities and colleges, and private HEIs with an existing memorandum of agreement with CHED and UniFAST.