Every college program that is legally offered in the Philippines sits inside the same four-part structure:
- A law — Republic Act 7722, the Higher Education Act of 1994, which created CHED and gave it the power to set minimum standards.
- A CHED Memorandum Order carrying the Policies, Standards and Guidelines (PSG) for that specific program.
- A government authorisation — a permit, a recognition, or a Certificate of Program Compliance — held by the individual school for that individual program.
- A level on the Philippine Qualifications Framework, which is what tells you how the credential compares to a TESDA certificate, a diploma, or a master's degree.
Once you can see those four layers, most of the confusing things about Philippine college programs stop being confusing: why the same degree looks different at two schools, why one course is 122 units and another is 192, why a school can advertise a program that is still only on a permit, and why a program can be closed down years after it opened.
Who decides what a program contains
CHED. Section 8(d) of RA 7722 gives the Commission the power to "set minimum standards for programs and institutions of higher learning" — the phrase CHED itself quotes at the top of its memorandum orders.
The drafting is done by discipline-based Technical Panels, whose organisation and operation are set out in CHED Administrative Order No. 3, series of 2019. A panel produces a draft PSG, the Commission en banc approves it by resolution, and only then does it become a CMO. The Associate in Radiologic Technology PSG, for instance, states on its face that it was adopted "by virtue of Commission en Banc Resolution No. 644-2024 dated September 30, 2024" before being issued as CMO No. 4, series of 2025.
One important exception: CHED does not regulate law programs. Legal education sits with the Legal Education Board, and CHED's own service catalogue carves out "those under the Legal Education Board (LEB)" from its permit and recognition process. Maritime programs are shared with MARINA. Health programs are shaped jointly with the Department of Health and the PRC — the ART PSG cites the Universal Health Care Act's implementing rules, which direct CHED, PRC and DOH together to reorient health curricula toward primary care.
What is actually inside a PSG
PSGs follow a near-identical article structure, which is worth knowing because it tells you what CHED does and does not prescribe:
| Article | What it covers |
|---|---|
| I — Introduction | Rationale, the enabling law for that profession |
| II — Authority to Operate | That a school must secure authority before offering the program |
| III — General Provisions | Academic freedom under Section 13 of RA 7722, and what counts as the minimum |
| IV — Program Specifications | Degree title, nature of the field, program goals, career roles, program outcomes |
| V — Curriculum | Sample curriculum, curriculum map, delivery methods, sample syllabi |
| VI — Required Resources | Library, laboratories, equipment, faculty and administration |
| VII / VIII — Compliance | Monitoring, sanctions, and what the school must submit |
The single most misread part is Article V. The curriculum printed in a CMO is a sample, not a mandate. What is binding is the minimum unit requirement and the program outcomes. CMO No. 4, series of 2025 states it directly: HEIs "are allowed to design curricula suited to their own contexts and missions provided that they can demonstrate that the same leads to the attainment of the required minimum set of outcomes, albeit by a different route."
That single sentence explains why two schools offering the same degree can hand you two different course lists, and why you should read a specific school's prospectus rather than assuming the CMO sample is what you will take. Our per-school courses offered guides exist for exactly that reason.
The two halves of every bachelor's degree
Every undergraduate program in the country is built from two blocks.
General education. CMO No. 20, series of 2013 set the GE curriculum at a minimum of 36 units: 24 units of core courses, 9 units of GE electives, and 3 units on the life and works of Rizal, which is mandated by law. The eight core courses are Understanding the Self, Readings in Philippine History, The Contemporary World, Mathematics in the Modern World, Purposive Communication, Art Appreciation, Science Technology and Society, and Ethics. They may be taught in English or Filipino.
That 36-unit figure replaced the older GE curriculum under CHED Memorandum No. 59, series of 1996. The reduction was possible because K to 12 moved GE-type content into senior high school — CMO 20 says the College Readiness Standards "integrated GE courses of higher education programs in the senior high school core courses thus, has created a window for the revision of the current GE curriculum."
Professional or major courses. Everything else: the discipline content prescribed by that program's own PSG, plus internship or practicum where the profession requires it, plus NSTP and PE where applicable.
Program size varies far more than the "four-year course" label suggests
A 2025 Philippine Institute for Development Studies review of PSGs for the ten most-subscribed undergraduate programs found minimum unit requirements running from 122 units for BS Business Administration to 192 units for BS Nursing. The same paper notes that "the norm is for institutions to exceed minimum credit requirements, presumably as a signal of quality" — so the published minimum is a floor, not a forecast of your actual load.
The study also found a consistent shape to Philippine curricula: compared with selected Australian, EU and ASEAN university benchmarks, Philippine programs are "GE-heavy, internship-light." Internship is also reckoned in units rather than hours in most PSGs, which hides big differences — the Criminology PSG mandates 540 internship hours, while a three-unit internship in another discipline might mean a fraction of that.
If you are comparing two schools or two programs, the honest comparison is total units in the actual prospectus, not the marketing description.
Where a program sits on the PQF
Republic Act 10968 institutionalised the Philippine Qualifications Framework, an eight-level ladder with senior high school as its foundation:
| PQF Level | Qualification |
|---|---|
| 1–4 | National Certificate I to IV (TESDA) |
| 5 | Diploma — where the TESDA and higher education subsystems interface |
| 6 | Baccalaureate degree |
| 7 | Post-baccalaureate programs |
| 8 | Doctoral degree and post-doctoral programs |
This is where a lot of confusion about Philippine credentials gets resolved — see our breakdown of certificate vs diploma vs degree for the terminology traps.
One example of the framework doing real work: the Doctor of Medicine program. CMO No. 18, series of 2016 describes it as "at least a four (4)-year post baccalaureate program" and places the degree at PQF Level 7, not Level 8. The same CMO adds two details worth knowing before you plan a medical path: satisfactory completion of a 12-month internship is required before you may sit the Physician Licensure Examination, and graduates "may use the title 'M.D.' after their names, only after they have been issued the license to practice medicine" by the PRC.
Whether a particular school may legally offer a particular program
This is the layer most students never check, and it is the one that matters most when a school is new or a program is new.
Per CHED's published Citizen's Charter, a school applies for one of three instruments:
- Government Permit (GP) — for a program still being built out
- Government Recognition (GR) — for an established program
- Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) — the equivalent for state universities and colleges and local universities and colleges, and for certain program categories
There are two processing tracks. Most undergraduate programs are handled by the CHED Regional Office. But graduate programs, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Engineering, BS Marine Transportation, BS Marine Engineering, and any program with no existing PSG go through a two-phase route: the regional office issues a certificate of eligibility after evaluation and ocular inspection, then the Office of Programs and Standards Development forwards it to the Technical Panel for deliberation and to the Commission en banc for approval.
The application itself is substantial — the checklist includes proof of ownership or lease of the building, a certificate of occupancy for educational use, and a feasibility study covering management, market and financial viability, including demand for graduates over the next five years and the presence of existing HEIs offering the same course in the area.
Above the baseline sit CHED's quality tiers: autonomous and deregulated status for private HEIs, updated by CMO No. 15, series of 2025, and Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development, whose standards were reissued as CMO No. 10, series of 2025. Our guide to CHED-accredited schools covers how to read these labels.
Approval is not permanent
PSGs carry monitoring and sanction provisions, and they bite. The Associate in Radiologic Technology PSG is a clear published example: monitoring visits that find non-compliant areas escalate from warning to probation to a stop on admissions with gradual phase-out, and separately, a school whose graduates average below 25 percent in the licensure examination over three consecutive years is put on the same sanctions ladder, with the lowest band triggering phase-out of the program.
Different PSGs set different thresholds, but the principle is general: a program can be closed to new admissions on performance grounds. If you are considering a small or newly opened program in a licensed field, ask the school directly for its board performance and its current CHED authorisation.
Licensed and unlicensed programs
The other split that shapes a program is whether it feeds a licensure exam. The PRC currently lists 46 Professional Regulatory Boards, each with its own regulated profession and exam. A degree outside that list has no PRC gate at all. This changes the shape of the program itself — licensed programs carry mandated internship or clinical hours, prescribed laboratory equipment, and the performance sanctions described above. See our full list of courses with board exams for the mapping.
Newer program shapes CHED has added
The catalogue is not frozen at "four-year bachelor's degree":
- Micro-credentials — CMO No. 1, series of 2025 set guidelines for their development, approval and recognition.
- Open distance and e-learning — CMO No. 12, series of 2025.
- Transnational higher education — foreign providers operating locally under Republic Act 11448, with the application process set by CMO No. 6, series of 2025.
- ETEEAP — the equivalency route to a degree for experienced workers, now backed by Republic Act 12124 with implementing rules issued as CMO No. 11, series of 2025.
What to check before you enrol in a program
- Ask which CMO governs the program. A registrar who cannot name it is a warning sign in a regulated field.
- Ask what authorisation the school holds for that program — permit, recognition, or COPC — and for which year levels.
- Get the actual prospectus and count the units. Compare it against the PSG minimum, not against another school's marketing.
- For licensed programs, ask for the school's three-year board performance. It is the same number CHED uses to sanction.
- Check whether the degree title is the one the licensing board recognises. Similar-sounding titles are not always interchangeable for exam eligibility.
If you are still choosing between fields rather than schools, start with our guide on what course to take in college, then read the CHED background in what CHED is and what it does.
Sources
- Commission on Higher Education, CMO No. 20, series of 2013, "General Education Curriculum: Holistic Understandings, Intellectual and Civic Competencies" — https://legacy.ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CMO-No.20-s2013.pdf
- Commission on Higher Education, CMO No. 4, series of 2025, "Revised Policies, Standards and Guidelines for Associate in Radiologic Technology Education (ART) Program" — https://legacy.ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/CMO-NO.-4-S.-2025.pdf
- Commission on Higher Education, CMO No. 18, series of 2016, "Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) Program" — https://legacy.ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CMO-18-s.-2016.pdf
- Commission on Higher Education, 2025 CHED Memorandum Orders (CMO Nos. 1, 6, 10, 11, 12, 15) — https://legacy.ched.gov.ph/2025-ched-memorandum-orders/
- Commission on Higher Education, Citizen's Charter (permit, recognition and COPC services) — https://caraga.ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Updated-CHED-Citizens-Charter.pdf
- Philippine Institute for Development Studies, "Review of CHED Policies, Standards, and Guidelines (PSGs) Pre- and Post-K to 12 Reforms," Discussion Paper Series No. 2025-13 — https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/document/pidsdps2513.pdf
- Philippine Qualifications Framework, level descriptors — https://pqf.gov.ph/Home/Details/4
- Professional Regulation Commission, Professional Regulatory Boards — https://www.prc.gov.ph/professional-regulatory-boards
