TL;DR: Ranked cheapest to most expensive on published figures: UP Diliman (free tuition under RA 10931), Adamson University (
₱88,000-148,000/year), University of the East (₱104,000-137,000/year), University of Santo Tomas (₱106,000-162,000/year), Far Eastern University (₱110,000-210,000/year), De La Salle University (₱210,000-300,000+/year), and Ateneo de Manila University (₱273,000/year). National University is the eighth member and is left unranked: it publishes no fee schedule, so no honest figure exists to rank it on. UAAP membership itself has nothing to do with tuition — it's purely an athletic league — so pick based on program and budget, not the jersey.
Why "Cheapest UAAP School" Is a Common Search — and a Bit Misleading
Every June, incoming freshmen and their parents search some version of "cheapest UAAP school," usually while deciding between the eight universities that compete in the country's most-watched collegiate sports league. It's a fair question, but worth untangling first: the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, groups these eight schools purely for basketball, volleyball, and 15 other sports. It has nothing to do with tuition policy. A school's UAAP membership tells you nothing about what you'll pay to attend — that comes down to whether it's a state university or a private one, and which private tier it sits in.
This guide ranks all eight UAAP member schools — University of the Philippines Diliman, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, University of the East, Far Eastern University, Adamson University, and National University — cheapest to most expensive, using each school's own published fee schedule. Seven of the eight have one. National University does not, and this guide says so rather than filling the gap with an estimate. It also covers what UAAP membership actually gets a student, beyond the tuition bill.
Disclaimer: tuition and fees change every school year and vary by program, year level, and unit load. Treat every figure below as a planning range and confirm current rates directly with each school's registrar or cashier's office.
UAAP Schools Ranked From Cheapest to Most Expensive
Here's the full lineup, using annualized tuition-and-fees estimates for a typical undergraduate load, drawn from each school's own dedicated tuition breakdown.
| Rank | School | Approx. Annual Cost | Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of the Philippines Diliman | ₱0 tuition (+ ~₱6,000-14,000/year misc. fees) | 2 semesters |
| — | National University | Not published — NU releases no fee schedule | 2 semesters |
| 2 | Adamson University | ~₱88,000-148,000 | 2 semesters |
| 3 | University of the East | ~₱104,000-137,000 | 2 semesters |
| 4 | University of Santo Tomas | ~₱106,000-162,000 | 2 semesters |
| 5 | Far Eastern University | ~₱110,000-210,000 | 2 semesters |
| 6 | De La Salle University | ~₱210,000-300,000+ | 3 trimesters |
| 7 | Ateneo de Manila University | ~₱273,000 (SY 2027-2028 estimate) | 2 semesters |
National University is unranked because it publishes no tuition figure. It is widely assumed to be the cheapest private member of the league, and it may well be, but there is no published number to rank it on. See the section below.
Ranks 3-6 (Adamson, UE, UST, FEU) cluster closely and overlap depending on program — a lab-heavy course at a "cheaper"-ranked school can cost more than a lecture-based course at a school ranked just above it. Treat this table as a general tier map, not an exact ranking for every program. DLSU runs three trimesters a year against everyone else's two semesters, which is already factored into its annualized figure.
1. University of the Philippines Diliman — Free Tuition
University of the Philippines Diliman is the cheapest UAAP school, and it isn't close. Under Republic Act 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, tuition and other mandatory school fees are free for eligible Filipino undergraduates — no income cap, no separate scholarship application needed. Students still pay for books, dorm or commute costs, and non-mandatory fees, and non-eligible groups (students on a second bachelor's degree, those who exceed their program's allotted years, and foreign nationals) pay full rates, with UP Diliman's own no-discount tuition rate published at ₱1,500 per unit.
Getting in is the real cost here: admission runs through the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT), one of the most competitive entrance exams in the country, and free tuition only kicks in once you're admitted and enrolled.
National University — Unranked, Because It Publishes Nothing
National University is the one UAAP member we cannot rank. Every other school in the league publishes a fee schedule, or has its rates reported in the annual press roundups. NU does neither. It is absent from the PhilSTAR Life roundup of ten Philippine universities' AY 2026-2027 fees, and there is no per-unit rate or program matrix to work from.
Ranges for NU do circulate. Home Credit's Manila tuition guide estimates roughly ₱25,000-₱30,000 a semester while stating outright that NU publishes no official computations. Other figures appear on aggregator pages that cite one another rather than NU, and they do not agree. We have removed the ones this guide used to carry rather than pick a winner between them.
What is safe to say: NU is a private university, majority-owned by the SM Group since 2008, and it positions itself as the affordable alternative to the Big Four. It is probably the cheapest private school in the league. But "probably" is as far as the evidence goes, and NU's cashier is the only place to get a real number.
2. Adamson University
Adamson University's own tentative fee schedule for incoming freshmen, SY 2026-2027, ranges from about ₱44,000 (BA Political Science) to ₱74,000 (BS Nursing) per semester, putting a full year at roughly ₱88,000-148,000 depending on program. Adamson is known for CHED-recognized engineering programs — Civil, Chemical, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering are all CHED Centers of Development — at a lower price than most direct competitors offering comparable programs.
3. University of the East
University of the East's own SY 2026-2027 fee schedules show first-semester tuition and fees for incoming freshmen ranging from about ₱52,000 (Engineering, Arts and Sciences) to ₱68,500 (Accountancy), across both the Manila and Caloocan campuses. Doubled for a rough annual estimate, that puts UE at roughly ₱104,000-137,000 per year. UE also cut its enrollment down payment to ₱1,000 for early enrollees for SY 2026-2027 and froze tuition rates for the year, according to the university's own announcement.
4. University of Santo Tomas
UST's freshman full first-term payment recently ranged from roughly ₱53,000 to ₱81,000 per semester, depending on college, with lab-heavy programs like Pharmacy and Architecture at the high end and Tourism Management or Arts and Letters at the low end. Annualized, that's approximately ₱106,000-162,000 per year. Among the so-called "Big Four" Philippine private universities (UP, Ateneo, La Salle, and UST), UST is generally the second most affordable after UP.
5. Far Eastern University
FEU's own SY 2025-2026 fee schedules show a first-semester total assessment (local student) ranging from about ₱54,000 for BS Business Administration up to ₱104,000 for upper-year BS Nursing. FEU's own guide states that most FEU undergraduate programs land somewhere around ₱110,000-210,000 per year, with nursing, pharmacy, and other lab-heavy allied health programs sitting at the top of that range because of laboratory, related learning experience, and clinical affiliation fees.
6. De La Salle University
DLSU is the first school on this list where the trimester calendar changes the math. Tuition and fees for a standard 18-unit freshman load run roughly ₱71,000-102,000 per trimester, and with three trimesters a year rather than two semesters, that works out to a typical annual cost of ₱210,000-300,000-plus before scholarships. DLSU confirmed no tuition increase for AY 2026-2027. Its Star Scholars program offers a full waiver of tuition, miscellaneous, and lab fees plus an ₱18,000 monthly stipend for qualified students.
7. Ateneo de Manila University — The Most Expensive UAAP School
Ateneo de Manila University tops the list. On the university's own published schedule, a standard 20-unit undergraduate semester is estimated at ₱136,609 in tuition and fees for School Year 2027-2028, putting a typical full-load year at roughly ₱273,000. Ateneo also froze tuition and fees across all school units for SY 2026-2027. Programs in the School of Science and Engineering cost more than this baseline because of laboratory fees.
What Does UAAP Membership Actually Mean for Students?
Beyond tuition, UAAP membership shapes campus life in a few concrete ways:
- Athletic scholarships. All eight schools recruit varsity athletes with scholarship packages that generally cover tuition and fees, and top recruits in flagship sports like basketball and volleyball can also receive allowances, lodging, and meals. Exact terms vary by school and sport.
- National media exposure. UAAP games are broadcast nationally, which means even non-athlete students get a level of school-spirit visibility that smaller, non-UAAP schools don't have.
- A long-standing rivalry culture. Established in 1938, the UAAP is one of the oldest collegiate athletic leagues in the country, and matchups between schools like Ateneo and La Salle carry decades of tradition that shape campus identity well beyond the basketball court.
- No bearing on academic cost or quality. A school's UAAP membership says nothing about its tuition tier, board exam passing rates, or program strength — those depend entirely on whether it's a state university or where it sits in the private-school pricing tiers covered above.
How to Choose Among the UAAP Schools
- Start with your budget ceiling, not the league. If your ceiling is under ₱90,000 a year, UP Diliman is the only UAAP school you can confirm fits, and NU is worth an enquiry since it may well fit too. If ₱200,000-plus a year is workable, DLSU and Ateneo open up.
- Compare your specific program, not the school average. A nursing or engineering program at a "cheaper"-ranked school can cost more than a lecture-based program at a school ranked above it — always check the program-specific figure, not just the school's general reputation.
- Factor in the calendar. DLSU's three-trimester system means three tuition payments a year instead of two — compare annual totals, not one term against one semester.
- Apply for scholarships early, whether merit-based, need-based, or athletic, since several UAAP schools offer packages that can eliminate tuition entirely for qualified students.
- Weigh free UP against a paid private school honestly. UP's board exam results and employer reputation are excellent across most fields, so a "cheaper school, comparable outcome" case is easy to make if you can get admitted.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare tuition and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH, and see our broader breakdown of cheapest vs. most expensive universities in the Philippines if you want to look beyond the UAAP lineup entirely.
Sources
- Ateneo de Manila University — Tuition and Fees (College) — School Year 2027-2028 estimated per-semester charges: ₱110,691 tuition (20 units), ₱17,394 basic fees, ₱8,524 other fees; page updated 17 June 2026
- Ateneo de Manila University — Tuition Freeze and Salary Increase in SY 2026-2027 (Memo # U2627-001) — no tuition and fee increases across all school units for SY 2026-2027
- SchoolFinderPH: UP Tuition Fee Guide — RA 10931 free tuition details and UP Diliman fee schedule
- SchoolFinderPH: Ateneo de Manila Tuition Fee — official Ateneo fee schedule and tuition freeze memo
- SchoolFinderPH: DLSU Tuition Fee Guide — DLSU trimester tuition figures and Star Scholars program
- SchoolFinderPH: UST Tuition Fee Guide — UST college-by-college freshman fee ranges
- SchoolFinderPH: University of the East Tuition Fee — official UE Manila and Caloocan fee schedules
- SchoolFinderPH: FEU Tuition Fee Guide — official FEU fee schedules by program
- SchoolFinderPH: Adamson University Tuition Fee Guide — official Adamson tentative fee schedule, SY 2026-2027
- SchoolFinderPH: National University Tuition Fee — why no NU tuition figure can be verified, plus SM Group ownership history
- SchoolFinderPH: Cheapest to Most Expensive Universities in the Philippines 2026 — comparative tuition tier placement
- Tuition Fees in the Philippines: Top Colleges and Universities in Manila 2026 — Homecredit.ph — the one outside NU estimate we located, which itself notes NU publishes no official computations
- LIST: Here's how much the tuition fees are in top PH universities for A.Y. 2026-2027 — PhilSTAR Life — roundup of ten Philippine universities' fees; NU is not among them
- Wikipedia: University Athletic Association of the Philippines — UAAP founding year, member schools, and league structure
- Republic Act No. 10931, Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act — legal basis for free tuition at state universities
A note on accuracy: National University publishes no tuition matrix at all, which is why it carries no figure and no rank here. Earlier versions of this guide gave NU two contradictory ranges; neither could be traced to the university, so both were removed rather than averaged. Every other figure above comes from the school's own published schedule. All figures change every school year and by program; confirm your specific cost with each university's registrar or cashier's office before enrolling.
