The Quezon City University is now a full-fledged higher education institution after compliance with all the requisites of the Commission on Higher Education.
CHED chairperson Dr. Prospero de Vera III and UniFAST executive director Ryan Estevez awarded the certificate of recognition to QCU represented by Mayor Joy Belmonte.
“This CHED recognition is a testament to the quality of education that we provide in QCU. For years, we have continuously strived to provide improved higher education programs for our students that will prepare them as they join the workforce. We believe this achievement will open more opportunities for our QCians,” Belmonte said.
With the institutional recognition, full tuition fee and miscellaneous fees of more than 8000 qualified scholars will be covered by CHED’s UniFAST program.
The Quezon City Polytechnic, now QCU, was established on March 1, 1994, by virtue of the City Council Ordinance No. SP-171 offering technical and vocational courses.
In 2001, the school was renamed Quezon City Polytechnic University after it reached university status in 2001.
In 2019, the city council passed Ordinance SP-2812 converting QCPU to QCU to align with the Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act which provided free higher education in state and local universities and colleges.
QCU now offers college degree courses, such as Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering, BS Entrepreneurship, BS Industrial Engineering, BS Information Technology and BS Accountancy.
De Vera said the university’s 8,000 students can now avail themselves of CHED’S various scholarship grants and financial assistance, such as the tertiary education subsidy, student loan program and “Tulong Dunong” program.
After 27 years and six ordinances, QCU has “reached its important milestone” to have a full status of being a university, Belmonte said.
“I promise that QCU will be the best university in the National Capital Region,” she cited.
Dr. Theresita Atienza, the university president, spearheaded the improvement in the three QCU campuses in San Bartolome, Batasan Hills and San Francisco, and the approval of the CHED recognition as well as the university’s eligibility under the UniFAST free higher education assistance.
“This is the only local university that has different campuses in Quezon City,” she said.