UniFAST

The Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, or UniFAST, also known as Republic Act No. 10687, was passed into law on 15 October 2015. The UniFAST is to be the legal instrument for national human resources development intended to promote social justice and to provide all citizens access to quality education to increase participation rate among all socio-economic classes in tertiary education, especially the poor but academically able and highly motivated students. Its specific objectives are:

" to allocate and utilize properly all government resources intended for students through effective beneficiary targeting;

" to ensure consistency, continuity, and efficient coordination of student financial assistance policies and programs;

" to ensure regional equity in the distribution of student financial assistance slots;

" to produce a pool of highly qualified graduates and technical experts who will contribute to the country's high level labor force through merit and talent-based scholarships;

" to facilitate access to quality education through grants-in-aid for students belonging to marginalized sectors; and

" to assist students with liquidity issues through student loans. The UniFAST consists of all existing modalities of StuFAPs for tertiary education and special purpose education assistance in both public and private institutions, including scholarships, grants-in-aid, student loans, and government programs in partnership with other stakeholders, among others, and which are nationally funded and/or implemented by national and local government agencies, branches, and instrumentalities. Following the passage of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (RA 10931) into law on August 3, 2017, the UniFAST has been mandated to promulgate its Implementing Rules and Regulations and ensure the efficient and effective implementation of the Act.