The short version. DBTC Cebu runs four degrees, three TVET diplomas, four TESDA national certificates, and a K-12 basic education programme whose STEM strand splits into pre-medical, engineering and ICT sub-tracks. Two degrees end in a licence exam: BS Mechanical Engineering and the technical-vocational teacher education degree. Tuition is not published, but the discount and scholarship table is, in unusual detail.
For the address, phone number and profile, see our Don Bosco Technical College - Cebu page. This post is the programme map.
The college degrees, and where each one ends
| Degree | Ends in | Licence exam |
|---|---|---|
| BS Information Technology | IT roles, no licence | None |
| BS Mechanical Engineering | Registered mechanical engineer | PRC mechanical engineer board |
| Bachelor of Technical-Vocational Teacher Education | Teaching TVL subjects in schools | LET (secondary) |
| BA in Religious Education and Pastoral Communication | Parish, school and church communication work | None |
Four degrees is a short list, and that is the point. This is a technical school that has kept its degree offering tied to what it already teaches with tools in hand. If you want accountancy, nursing, criminology or business administration, DBTC Cebu is not the school.
BS Mechanical Engineering is the one with the highest bar and the highest ceiling. It ends in the PRC mechanical engineer licensure examination, which you must pass to practise. Our mechanical engineering board exam guide covers what the exam asks and how hard it is to pass.
Bachelor of Technical-Vocational Teacher Education is the quiet standout. It is the degree that turns a technical background into a teaching licence — you sit the Licensure Examination for Teachers on the secondary track and can then teach TVL subjects in senior high. Given that DBTC also runs TESDA-certificated shops on the same campus, the pipeline from certificate holder to licensed TVL teacher is unusually short here. The LET guide covers the exam.
BSIT carries no licence. That is normal for IT and not a defect; see our BSIT degree guide for what employers look at instead.
BA Religious Education and Pastoral Communication is a Salesian-specific offering you will not find at most Cebu colleges. No board exam. It suits people heading into parish work, Catholic school religion teaching, or church communications.
TVET: the part most people miss
The technical-vocational department is the school's original business — it started in 1954 as Boys' Town Cebu — and it still runs two tiers.
Diploma programmes
- Diploma in Mechanical Technology
- Diploma in Electrical Technology
- Diploma in Furniture Making Technology
National certificates
- Certificate in Furniture Making
- Certificate in Machining
- Certificate in Motorcycle Servicing
- Certificate in Pharmacy Services
The school describes these as TESDA-accredited programmes aimed at immediate employment, entrepreneurship or further study. A national certificate is not a board exam qualification; it is assessed by TESDA against a competency standard, and the credential you walk away with is an NC, not a licence. Our guide to getting a TESDA certificate explains how the assessment works and what an NC is worth in the job market.
Furniture Making appears twice — as a diploma and as a certificate — which is the ladder in miniature: certificate first, diploma if you want the longer programme. Ask the registrar which one your target employer actually recognises before choosing.
Basic education, and the STEM sub-tracks
Kindergarten through Grade 6, junior high from Grade 7 to 10, then senior high with three strands: ABM, HUMSS and STEM. STEM is where DBTC does something most Cebu schools do not — it splits into Pre-Medical, Engineering, and Information, Communication and Technology.
That split is worth taking seriously. A generic STEM strand leaves a Grade 11 student doing the same subjects whether they are heading for medicine or for civil engineering. Three named sub-tracks means the elective load is pointed somewhere. It also means the choice happens a year earlier than most families expect, so the conversation has to happen in Grade 10, not Grade 11.
The history explains the programme list
The offering makes more sense once you know how the school got here, and DBTC publishes the sequence on its own about page.
The Salesians arrived in Cebu in 1954 under Fr. Carlo Braga, and Fr. Attilio Boscariol opened a small building near the Cebu Cathedral — Boys' Town Cebu, a home for poor and abandoned boys. In 1955 it moved to Punta Princesa on land donated by Don Ramon Aboitiz. Government recognition came in 1960 as Don Bosco Technical High School, though the city kept calling it Boys' Town for years. The College Department opened in 1994, which is when the name changed to Don Bosco Technology Center. It became Don Bosco Technical College - Cebu in 2017. Senior high launched in 2010, and PAASCU Level 1 accreditation followed in 2019.
Read that sequence and the degree list stops looking short and starts looking coherent: a shop-floor technical school that added a college department around what it already taught, then added senior high when K-12 arrived. Mechanical engineering sits on top of mechanical and machining shops that have been running for decades. The technical-vocational teacher education degree sits on top of the fact that the school has to train its own shop instructors anyway. The school's stated aim is forming technopreneurs, and it has been using that word since well before it was fashionable.
Who this school suits
A student who learns with their hands and wants a credential at the end, at any of three levels: a TESDA certificate in a year or so, a diploma, or a four-year degree. The ladder is real here in a way it is not at most schools, because the certificate shops and the degree programmes share a campus and, in places, staff.
It suits you less if you want a broad academic university experience or a profession outside engineering, teaching, IT and church work. There is no nursing, no accountancy, no criminology, no law. The senior high strands cover ABM and HUMSS, but the school's centre of gravity is clearly STEM and the shops.
Money: the discounts are published, the tuition is not
DBTC Cebu publishes an unusually specific list of discounts and scholarships. What it does not publish is the tuition figure they are percentages of, which makes the list useful for comparison and useless for budgeting until you have an assessment in hand.
Discounts for existing families
| Discount | Amount |
|---|---|
| Full payment of annual school fees | 5% of tuition |
| Sibling discount | 3% of tuition |
| Loyalty, Kinder to Grade 10 at DBTC, entering senior high | 15% of tuition |
| Loyalty, Kinder to Grade 10 at DBTC, entering college | 20% of tuition |
| Children of DBTC employees | 100% of tuition |
Scholarships
- Kinder to senior high students finishing a year With Highest Honors: 100% of tuition.
- Fr. John Clifford (FJC) Scholarship: a socialised percentage of tuition.
- Athletic scholarship: performance-based percentage of tuition.
For students coming from other schools
- One elementary graduate from each of ten named nearby public schools who tops the entrance exam: 100% of tuition and miscellaneous fees from Grade 7 through senior high. The schools listed are Tisa, Labangon, Punta, Mambaling, Buhisan, Pasil, Vicente Rama, Quiot, Pardo and Basak Community.
- Grade 10 students from any public or private school finishing With Highest Honors and enrolling for senior high: 100% of tuition and miscellaneous fees for Grades 11 and 12.
- Public school senior high graduates enrolling in college as Sugbo Scholars: free college tuition fees.
Government subsidy
Educational Service Contracting is listed at PHP 11,000 for junior high and PHP 16,000 for senior high. Our ESC grant guide covers who qualifies and how the certificate follows a student between schools.
Enrolment fee
Basic education enrolment is PHP 3,000, with PHP 1,000 off for January enrollees, PHP 750 for February and PHP 500 for March. That is a real reason to enrol early rather than a marketing line.
For a sense of where DBTC is likely to sit against other Cebu private schools once you have your assessment, our Cebu City private school tuition guide has the range.
The admission page is empty
Worth knowing before you plan around it: as of writing, the school's Admission page carries a single line — "Coming soon. Stay tuned for more updates." There is no published requirements list, no entrance exam date, no deadline.
The live routes are the school's online forms, linked from its own footer: an Admissions enquiry form, a basic education enrolment form, and a college enrolment form, all hosted on the school's management system. Everything else — document list, exam schedule, deadlines — you get by asking. The entrance exam clearly exists, since one of the scholarships is awarded to whoever tops it, but its date is not published anywhere on the site.
What to ask on a campus visit
- The full written assessment for your level, so the percentage discounts mean something.
- The entrance exam date, and whether the public-school topnotcher scholarship is still running this year.
- Which STEM sub-track has enough enrollees to open a section.
- For TVET: which NC qualifications currently hold TESDA accreditation, and when the assessment is scheduled.
- For BSME: recent PRC pass rates for the programme, which the school does not publish.
Sources
Comparing against other options nearby? Our Cebu City schools listing is the place to start.
