When cheap education is expensive

I didn’t blog for the past months although I had some bloggable thoughts that I could speak about. There’s this death of an aunt, which was intentionally concealed from me because I was busy studying for the final exams. Then there’s the revival of the passion for the philosophy of logic, which was due to my brother who teaches mathematics. Then came the quest to revive Sophia Circle in a science-oriented university such as the UPLB. I had bloggable thoughts and wrote none. It’s just when a cheap education becomes expensive that the drive to write was replenished.

What could one buy with P11,975? Just add P25 and it is already P12,000, which is the amount needed to take 12 units in UP now that the tuition fee has increased. When I was still in UP (I graduated in 2007), P12,000 is more than enough to finance 36 units or two semesters. P12,000 is more than twelve months of rent in Men’s Dorm or Women’s Dorm in UPLB. P12,000 is enough to rent 4 private resorts in Pansol for 12 hours each. P12,000 is equivalent to 8 units in San Beda College of Law. P12,000 can buy 8 law books. It can buy a cheap laptop or an expensive camera phone. This summer, P12,000 is the amount one would get in adding P25 to 6 units of Filipino in a not-so-popular college in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

It is standard for a law student who lacks necessary units or subjects to take the same in order to comply with the requirements of the law school. It is likewise standard for a law student to cross-enroll in another school if her law school cannot offer her the subjects she needs. For a law student attempting to cross-enroll, the first thing she has to do is to inquire. If the other school’s registrar is the one to answer the law student’s inquiry on cross-enrolment, the law student would no longer exert an effort to ask the finance office about the tuition fee or the said school’s dean regarding the subjects that she has to take. When the registrar says the tuition fee is P300+ per unit, the law student would believe it. The law student would then compute the expenses – P300+ would be multiplied to 6 units or 2 subjects – and the law student would get P1,800+. She would add miscellaneous fees, and then would think that P3,000 or P4,000 might be the amount she would be spending in taking 6 units of Filipino.

Armed with the permit to cross-enroll, she would go back to the other school to enroll 6 units of Filipino subjects (Filipino 1 and Filipino 2). Because the two subjects are not originally open for enrollees this summer, the law student has to make a request to open the subjects, which only means that she would be the only student to take the two subjects. Later on she would learn from the finance office that the cost per unit for a cross-enrollee is not similar to that of a regular student. Instead of P300+, the law student has to pay P500 per unit. On top of it, would be miscellaneous fee, cross-enrollee fee and special class fees. The law student would be surprised when the person in the finance office says the amount she has to pay is “P11,975.” She would then ask for the breakdown of fees, and the person in the finance would get a piece of paper, and write down the breakdown without looking at any list of prices as if she knows everything a student has to pay. The piece of paper would contain this information written by the person in the finance office:
6 x 500 = 3000
Misc = 2575
Cross Enrolle Fee = 2800
Special Class (2) = 3600
11975

The information above would be the exact information written by the person in the finance office. The number “6” in the first line would pertain to the six units of Filipino the law student will take. “500” would be the amount per unit. “Misc” would mean miscellaneous fees. The word “enrollee” would be misspelled as “enrolle;” and a cross enrollee fee of 2800 would have to be paid despite the fact that P300+ per unit for a regular student was increased to P500 per unit for a cross enrollee. “Special Class (2)” would pertain to special class fees multiplied to 2 or 2 subjects. Upon obtaining the information, the law student would go home and make phone calls to ask others whether P11,975 is a reasonable rate for 6 units. Because others would say “ang mahal naman niyan,” the law student would ask each college and university in town for the possibility of cross-enrollment. But because there would be no other school that would allow her to cross-enroll, the law student would opt to pay P11,975.

Upon finishing the enrollment, she would ask for the schedule of classes. But because she would be the only student in both subjects, the people in the registrar’s office and in the information desk would tell her to go to the dean. The dean would then be surprised to know that a cross-enrollee is enrolled in 2 special classes. The law student then would come to understand that the dean was not told nor consulted about the opening of two subjects which were originally not open for enrolment. Nevertheless, the dean would ask for the law student’s phone number so that the former could inform the latter of the schedule of classes.

The law student would receive the call and would be asked to meet a professor/teacher. The teacher would tell the law student that instead of conducting regular classes, the latter would be asked to answer modules, and submit the same. The teacher would give the law student a piece of paper with the former’s number and name. The name would be similar to the Megastar’s. The law student would ask for the teacher’s surname, but the teacher would instead give the other name of the Megastar. Later on, the teacher would give her surname. The law student would not remember it. She would only remember the Megastar.

Because there would be no classes, the Megastar would not be able to remember the full name of the law student. It would seem fair, therefore, for the law student to not remember the surname of the teacher. Later on, the Megastar would unprofessionally and unethically text the law student telling the latter to settle her accounts. The Megastar would say that the finance office asked her to do this. Offended by the attitude of the Megastar-teacher, the law student would tell her that she already paid in full. Later on, the law student would learn that the Megastar-teacher only wanted to know whether the law student has already paid her dues because the Megastar-teacher would receive an amount of money from the tuition fee of the law student. How unethical of her.

Because taking Filipino subjects is not a requirement in UP, the law student would have to undergo Heidegger’s “falling.” Nevertheless, she would take it as a challenge. She would answer modules, and would later on buy books that she would donate in exchange of exams. She wanted to take exams instead of donating books, but the teacher would say that her project would be to donate books instead of taking the exams. To donate books would be the project. It would not be the alternative or other option. She would probably be the law student who paid more, and did less. She would be the one she hates. And this would be all because there would be no other schools. Even UPLB would not offer Filipino units on a summer. The law student could not afford to spend more to study outside Laguna in order to obtain 6 units of Filipino.

And then she would complete all the requirements of the subjects. She would go to the registrar’s office to ask whether she could already get her grades. A person in the registrar’s office, probably in her twenties, would ask for the name of the professor. The law student would answer that she forgot. The person would say “Hindi mo alam?! Kelangan kasi ng pangalan ng professor para malaman kung nagpasa na ng grades.” The law student could easily discern that the person is annoyed. Then the law student would say “I know her first name, and she said she already submitted the grades.” “Kelangan mo ng clearance…” she would say.

The law student has to make the librarian, dean, and comptroller sign the clearance form. When she would ask a student where the library is, a person, probably a student assistant and is probably younger than the law student, would ask for the clearance form and would sign it. Does she know that the law student borrowed none from the library? When the law student would go to the dean’s office, a person, probably younger than the law student, would sign the clearance form. She is not the dean, but the law student could hear that the dean is in his office. When the law student would go to the comptroller, the comptroller would say “P100.” “Para saan po?,” the law student would ask. “Sa transmittal of grades,” the comptroller would answer. And then the law student would pay P100. She knows that when one adds P20 to P100, one could already request for 2 copies of transcript from UPLB.

When cheap education is as expensive as P12,000 minus P25, how much do we have to spend for a good education? When a cheap education is expensive, would there be a bright future for the Philippine education? When educational institutions do so much to squeeze money from their students, what kind of education can a student expect?

How much is a cheap education? P11,975 (for six units).