MORE than 5 million students have benefited from the government’s Free Higher Education Program since its implementation in 2018, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said, underscoring the continued expansion of access to tertiary education.

Based on estimates from Gatchalian’s office, a total of 5.476 million unique beneficiaries have received assistance under Republic Act No. 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, from 2018 to Academic Year 2025–2026.

The figure includes 4.070 million beneficiaries under the Free Higher Education Program and 1.406 million recipients of the Tertiary Education Subsidy.

Gatchalian also announced that the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed amendments to the Free Higher Education Law has been ratified by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and is now ready for enrollment.

The Senate President said the 2026 national budget provides additional funding support to State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) to help address enrollment capacity constraints and accommodate more qualified students.

He noted that at least 168,493 qualified applicants were previously denied admission due to limited capacity in SUCs.

During his term as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, Gatchalian secured an additional P6.3 billion in funding for SUCs under the 2026 national budget.

Of the amount, P5.2 billion was specifically proposed by his office to help expand enrollment capacity and improve access to higher education.

“Makakaasa po ang ating mga SUCs na patuloy natin silang susuportahan upang maabot pa natin ang mas maraming mag-aaral at makapaghatid tayo ng dekalidad na edukasyon,” Gatchalian said.

The senator emphasized that strengthening the country’s public higher education system remains a priority to ensure that more Filipino students can pursue quality tertiary education regardless of their financial capacity.