Most Philippine bachelor programs that lead to a job with a workplace attached to it require some form of supervised industry training before you graduate. It goes by several names, internship, practicum, on-the-job training, OJT, field practice, and CHED treats them as the same thing.
This guide covers which degrees require it, how many hours the CHED program standards actually prescribe, and the national rules that apply while you are on it, including the rule about pay that most students assume works the other way round.
The order that governs internships
CHED Memorandum Order No. 104, series of 2017, the Revised Guidelines for Student Internship Program in the Philippines (SIPP) for All Programs. It was adopted under Commission en Banc Resolution No. 849-2017 and amended the earlier CMO No. 23, series of 2009.
CMO 104 defines internship as the practical application of classroom learning in a regular work environment, and states plainly that it is synonymous with practicum, field practice or on-the-job training. It also states that internship is not synonymous with apprenticeship and learnership as defined by Republic Act No. 7796, which are TESDA employment arrangements with their own rules on wages and duration. That distinction is the reason internship pay is not governed the way apprenticeship pay is.
Two related orders sit alongside it. CMO No. 63, series of 2017 covers local off-campus activities, and CMO No. 10, series of 2023 sets enhanced policies for the Student Internship Abroad Program.
Which degrees require it, and how many hours
The number of hours is not set by CMO 104. It is set by each program's Policies, Standards and Guidelines. Here is what the actual orders say, with the hours quoted from the documents themselves.
| Program | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| BS Information Technology | Minimum 486 internship hours | CMO No. 25, s. 2015 |
| BS Information Systems | Minimum 486 internship hours | CMO No. 25, s. 2015 |
| BS Computer Science | Minimum 162 internship hours | CMO No. 25, s. 2015 |
| BS Tourism Management | Practicum, minimum 600 hours, 6 units | CMO No. 62, s. 2017 |
| BS Hospitality Management | Practicum, minimum 600 hours, 6 units | CMO No. 62, s. 2017 |
| Bachelor of Elementary Education | Field Study 1 (3 units), Field Study 2 (3 units), Teaching Internship (6 units) | CMO No. 74, s. 2017 |
| BS Nursing | Related Learning Experience across skills laboratory and clinical courses | CMO No. 15, s. 2017 |
A few details worth pulling out of those documents.
The IT programs gate the internship on progress. CMO 25 states that students are eligible to enrol in the internship program after completing 70 per cent of the total number of units in the curriculum, and that the internship is preferably taken in a full-time capacity. It is a requirement for BSCS, BSIS and BSIT alike, but computer science carries a much lower hour count than the other two.
Hospitality and tourism carry the heaviest load of the common programs. CMO 62 sets the practicum at six units and a minimum of 600 hours, and permits the units to be broken into two subject offerings in different semesters, different areas or different levels of operation. It also encourages that the practicum venue be accredited by the Department of Tourism, for local and international placements alike.
Teacher education splits it into observation and teaching. CMO 74 places Field Study 1 and Field Study 2 at three units each and Teaching Internship at six units within a 152-unit program, under the heading Experiential Learning.
Health programs run on a different track entirely. CMO 104 expressly excludes health professions disciplines from its coverage, naming Medicine, Nursing, Optometry, Dental Medicine, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Radiologic Technology, Medical Technology, Pharmacy, Midwifery, Respiratory Therapy, Nutrition and Dietetics, Associate in Radiologic Technology and Speech Pathology. Their clinical exposure is prescribed by their own PSGs. The BSN standards under CMO 15, for example, run Related Learning Experience through nearly every nursing course rather than as one block at the end.
If your program is not in the table, do not assume either way. Download your program's CMO from the CHED issuances index and read the curriculum section. Program standards are revised, and the version your school follows is the one that governs your checklist. Our program guides for BS Information Technology, BS Hospitality Management and BS Tourism Management cover the wider curriculum for those three.
How CHED converts practicum units into hours
CMO 62 spells out the conversion most students never see, and it explains why a six-unit practicum swallows an entire semester:
- One lecture unit equals at least one hour a week, or 17 hours per term.
- One laboratory unit equals at least two to three hours a week.
- One practicum unit equals at least 100 hours per term.
So six practicum units is at least 600 hours, which is why the minimum in the table matches the unit count exactly. A three-unit lecture subject, by contrast, is about 51 hours across the same semester. Practicum units are not comparable to classroom units, and planning your term as though they are is how students end up unable to finish.
The rules that apply while you are on OJT
These come straight from CMO 104 and are worth knowing before you sign anything.
Duration. Up to a maximum of five months in accordance with the approved curriculum, except for highly technical programs that require longer hours under their own PSGs.
Concurrent load. You may take other subjects up to a maximum of six units during the internship period, subject to the host establishment's requirements and your school's policy.
Who qualifies. You must be officially enrolled in a Philippine higher education institution, enrolled in an internship subject, at least eighteen years old from the start of the internship period, have passed the pre-internship requirements in the internship plan, submit a medical certificate of good health and emotional fitness based on examination by a DOH-accredited clinic or hospital, and have notarized written consent from a parent or legal guardian. CMO 104 states directly that no waiver is allowed in place of that consent.
Documents. The school and host establishment enter into a memorandum of agreement specifying roles, responsibilities, safety of interns, training plan, learning objectives and method of evaluation. There is a separate internship plan and an internship contract signed by the intern, the host and the school.
What the host may not do. CMO 104 requires host establishments to ensure that student interns do not perform the tasks and duties of a regular position. If you are being used to fill a vacancy rather than to learn, that is contrary to the order.
Notice before termination. The host must give the school at least 30 working days written notice of an intern's breach of contract or misconduct before deciding to suspend or terminate the contract.
Certificate of completion. Issued not later than two weeks after the internship ends.
Fees. Schools must follow the approved internship fee based on CMO No. 3, series of 2012, the enhanced policies governing increases in tuition and other school fees. CMO 104 says in no case shall a school charge fees other than the approved or prescribed fee, or fees not duly noted by CHED. If an internship charge appears on your assessment that you have never seen before, ask the accounting office which approved fee it corresponds to.
The pay question, answered honestly
CHED does not require internships to be paid.
The text of CMO 104 says the host training establishment may provide necessary incentives to student interns as contained in the memorandum of agreement, and gives free duty meals, travel allowance and uniform as the examples. That is permissive, not mandatory. The sample internship contract annexed to the order includes a compensation and benefits section listing allowance, lodging, duty meals, uniform, insurance, working hours and days off, but it is a template of items that may be included, not a schedule of minimums.
CMO 104 also puts insurance obligations in writing, including travel and medical coverage, and lists failure to provide free medical and dental services and appropriate insurance among the violations for which a school may be sanctioned.
The practical reading: ask, in writing, before you accept a placement. What is the allowance, if any. Who pays for the insurance. Are meals or transport covered. What are the working hours and days off. Those belong in the agreement, and the agreement is the only thing that binds anyone.
What internships do not do
They are not a job offer. They are not employment, so they do not build service credit or contributions the way a regular job does. And they do not replace a licence: a graduate of a regulated profession still sits the PRC examination regardless of how many practicum hours they logged. Our guide to courses with board exams covers which programs that applies to.
What a good internship does give you is a certificate of completion from a named establishment, a supervisor who can speak to your work, and a realistic picture of the job before you commit a career to it. Students who treat the placement as a formality get a signature. Students who treat it as a long interview often get a first job out of it.
Before you start
- Read your program's CMO and find the exact hours or units your checklist requires.
- Ask the internship coordinator which host establishments the school has an existing memorandum of agreement with.
- Confirm in writing the allowance, insurance coverage, hours and days off.
- Check whether the placement counts if you arrange it yourself, and whether the host is duly authorised as CMO 104 requires.
- Keep your daily time record and the certificate of completion. They are the proof the units were earned.
Sources
- CHED CMO No. 104, s. 2017 - Revised Guidelines for Student Internship Program in the Philippines (SIPP) for All Programs (official PDF)
- CHED CMO No. 25, s. 2015 - PSGs for Information Technology Education Programs (official PDF)
- CHED CMO No. 62, s. 2017 - PSGs for BS Tourism Management and BS Hospitality Management (official PDF)
- CHED CMO No. 74, s. 2017 - PSGs for the Bachelor of Elementary Education (official PDF)
- CHED CMO No. 15, s. 2017 - PSGs for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (official PDF)
- CHED Regional Office XI - Updates on Program Standards and Guidelines for LOCA, IET, SIPP and SIAP
- Commission on Higher Education - index of CHED Memorandum Orders by year
