THE Mandaue City College (MCC) may refuse to enroll incoming freshmen students for school year 2024–2025 if the school's renewal application for Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) is denied by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).
The school's application for a COPC under CHED's Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) was turned down in 2022, which meant it could not continue its free tuition scheme.
City Councilor Malcolm Sanchez, the chairman of the Committee on Education at the city council, said on Monday, September 25, 2023, they had already completed all necessary requirements and resubmitted their COPC application last June, CHED had not yet responded.
To avoid jeopardizing the next batch of students for the next semester, Sanchez hoped to get the result of their renewal application before the end of the year.
“Our goal is to obtain the COPC by the end of the year because if we cannot, according to CHED's statement, we would incur losses and be unable to enroll new first-year college students,” said Sanchez.
"We will be pressured into accepting even though the city would shoulder it (tuition fee) because our school programs won't be accepted by CHED,” he added.
Among the grounds for the disapproval is that the school lacks plantilla (permanent) positions and other facilities.(HIC, TPT)