The question most people arrive with is which entrance exam Our Lady of Fatima University uses. The honest answer, from OLFU's own pages: it does not publish one for college. The admission requirements page lists documents. The step-by-step college application procedure lists a form, a payment and a document submission. Neither contains a test.
The only college-level examination OLFU advertises to incoming freshmen is its Scholarship Exam, and that decides a tuition discount, not whether you get in. The NMAT appears too, but only for the College of Medicine.
What that means practically: at OLFU your Grade 12 records and your ability to pay the starting fees are the gate, not a test score. This guide covers what those records have to be, what starting costs OLFU publishes, how the six campuses differ, and the routes for people who are not coming straight from senior high school. For the university's location, contacts and profile, see our Our Lady of Fatima University page.
Pick your campus first, not last
OLFU is a six-campus system: Valenzuela City, Quezon City, Antipolo City, San Fernando in Pampanga, Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija, and Laguna. The campus is the first thing you choose on the online application form, and the choice carries through the whole process — each campus has its own payment gateway, its own Admissions Office where you submit hard copies, and its own Student Financial Services contacts.
Programme availability is not uniform across the six. OLFU publishes a single university-wide programme list, which is not the same as a guarantee that a given degree runs at the campus nearest you. Confirm with the campus Admissions Office before you pay anything. Our rundown of courses offered at OLFU covers what the university publishes and where the gaps are.
The five-step college application
OLFU's own procedure for new college students:
Step 1 — Fill out the online application form. Go to OLFU's enrolment landing page and click Apply Now, or go straight to the application form. Choose the campus you want, complete every required field, and submit. The system emails you.
Step 2 — Receive the confirmation email. OLFU calls this Email Notification #1. It carries your applicant reference number, payment details and basic personal information. That applicant number is what you use as the invoice number when you pay.
Step 3 — Pay the full or minimum required fees. OLFU's published minimums for new students, stated as non-refundable:
| Applicant | Application fee | Minimum down payment | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| College / transferees, non-maritime programmes | ₱500 | ₱1,500 | ₱2,000 |
| College / transferees, maritime programmes | ₱900 | ₱1,500 | ₱2,400 |
| College of Medicine | ₱1,000 | ₱20,000 | ₱21,000 |
Payment runs through Dragonpay using your applicant number as the invoice number, or over the counter at the campus Student Financial Services office. OLFU says posting takes two to three business days excluding weekends and holidays, that cashiers are open Mondays to Saturdays, that visitors may be asked to return another day or face long queues, and that online payment is most recommended. Take that literally — a payment that posts three business days after you make it is three days you do not have if a window is closing.
Step 4 — Keep proof of payment, and start gathering your admission requirements for on-campus submission.
Step 5 — Submit your requirements. Hard copies go physically to the Admissions Office of your campus. You are handed a printed Registration Card / Class Schedule, and your OLFU Gmail credentials are printed on the bottom right of that card.
Medicine applicants get a slightly different tail: after payment, Email Notification #2 carries the login credentials to OLFU's Academic Information System, and profile updating happens inside that system.
What college freshmen actually submit
- Original Grade 12 senior high school report card (SF9).
- Original School Form 10 — released against a request letter from OLFU, so ask for that letter before you go to your old school.
- Original certificate of good moral character issued in the current year.
- Two identical recent 2x2 studio photos, white background.
- Clear photocopy of the PSA birth certificate.
- Clear photocopy of the Grade 12 senior high school diploma.
- For married female applicants, a clear photocopy of the marriage certificate.
Two of these routinely delay applications. The SF10 request letter is a small piece of OLFU paperwork that has to exist before your previous school will release the form — you cannot start at the old school's registrar. And the good moral certificate must be current-year dated; an older one is not accepted. Our good moral certificate guide covers who signs it and how long schools take, and Form 137 vs Form 138 explains which record is which if the SF9/SF10 naming is unfamiliar.
The other applicant categories
Transferees. For subject crediting, submit any one of: scholastic records, certificate of grades, class cards, transcript of records, or an online copy of grades. Alongside that: honorable dismissal or transfer credentials, a transcript copy for OLFU, two 2x2 photos, a PSA birth certificate photocopy, and a marriage certificate photocopy for married female applicants. OLFU adds a genuinely helpful note — if you do not have your requirements yet, submit a photocopy of your claim stub and receipt for the honorable dismissal and transcript. Few schools say that out loud. If you are still weighing the move, our college transferee guide covers what transferring actually costs you in units.
Cross-enrollees. Original permit to cross-enrol, PSA birth certificate photocopy, two 2x2 photos. That is the whole list.
ALS passers. Original certificate of rating, original certificate of good moral character, original or certified true copy of the ALS diploma, PSA birth certificate photocopy, two 2x2 photos, plus an original Qualified Voucher Recipient certificate if you are entering senior high school. See ALS to college for how that certificate is treated by other institutions too.
ETEEAP. OLFU runs the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program with published pre-qualifications: Filipino citizen, at least a high school graduate or holding a PEPT or ALS A&E result stating "qualified to enter in first-year college", at least five years of work experience, proficient in the discipline applied for, at least 25 years of age, and an accomplished ETEEAP application form. The document set is heavy — letter of intent to the ETEEAP Director, comprehensive CV, Form 137 or original transcript, honorable dismissal, subject descriptions with learning competencies from the last institution attended, service record or certificate of employment, a signed statement of duties and responsibilities for each position held, five 1x1 photos, PSA birth certificate, barangay or NBI clearance or passport, plus certificates of seminars, awards, government examinations passed, certifications, published research and professional memberships.
Graduate School. Original and one photocopy of the transcript with Special Order number, honorable dismissal, two 2x2 colour photos, photocopy of PRC ID and board rating certificate if licensed, certificate of employment, and a certificate of good moral character from the school where the prior degree was earned or from a current employer.
International students. Apostilled transcript, diploma, letter of financial support with bank account statement, and police clearance from the country of origin; birth certificate, passport photocopy, letter of recommendation, eight personal history sheets, eight 2x2 photos, Alien Certificate of Registration, student visa and study permit. The NMAT appears here too, flagged for College of Medicine students only. OLFU processes the study permit and student visa after acceptance and says it offers special language programmes for foreign students.
The College of Medicine is the one route with a test
Local applicants must hold any baccalaureate degree and submit an original college transcript, certified true copy of the college diploma, NMAT, birth certificate photocopy, good moral certificate or letter of recommendation, two 2x2 photos and a big kraft envelope. Transferees add honorable dismissal, scholastic records or a copy of grades, and a certified true copy of the NMAT.
OLFU does not publish an NMAT percentile of its own. If you are working out what your score means, ask the College of Medicine what percentile it works to before you assume yours clears.
The Scholarship Exam: optional, and about money
OLFU's one advertised college examination is the Scholarship Exam, and its published guidelines are specific:
- Open to all incoming college freshmen of OLFU who have paid the application fees. So the fee comes first, then the test — it is not an entrance gate.
- Applicants contact the OLFU Admissions Office for scheduling and other requirements.
- Exams are conducted on-campus.
- The Admissions Office is the sole releaser of the scholarship results to applicants and test-takers.
- Limited slots are available.
- Tuition fee discounts offered are 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, 10% and 5%.
OLFU publishes the exam as a run of sessions across weekdays and Saturdays over a period of months rather than as a single test day, split into a first block early in the year and a second, longer block after it. Treat that as the pattern — the specific dates and time slots are re-issued each cycle and only the current guidelines page is authoritative.
What OLFU does not say is how a result maps to a discount tier, or how many slots exist at each tier. "Limited slots" plus a session-based schedule means the earlier sessions are the ones worth booking.
Beyond the scholarship exam, OLFU lists a wide set of discounts and aid — sibling discounts, alumni discounts, return-to-OLFU assistance, installment plans, a working student grant, an employees' educational benefit and several externally funded grants. Ask your campus Student Financial Services office which of these can be held at the same time, because most institutions cap you at one.
What OLFU does not publish
- No college entrance examination, and no statement that admission is competitive on grades either — no minimum GWA appears in the college requirements.
- No programme quotas or cut-offs.
- No scoring scheme for the Scholarship Exam, and no number of slots per discount tier.
- No application deadline on the college procedure page — only the fee structure and the steps.
- No campus-by-campus programme list on the admissions pages; the programme list is university-wide.
- No NMAT percentile of its own for the College of Medicine.
Where a figure is not published, do not accept one from a site that is not OLFU.
The practical order of operations
- Confirm your programme runs at your chosen campus, with that campus's Admissions Office.
- Get the OLFU request letter for your SF10 before you approach your old school.
- Ask your senior high school for a current-year good moral certificate — this is usually the slowest document.
- Submit the online application and note your applicant number.
- Pay online rather than at a cashier, and allow the two to three business days for posting.
- If you want the scholarship exam, contact the Admissions Office for a slot as soon as the fees are paid.
- Bring hard copies to your campus Admissions Office.
Once you have a place, the cost question is next. Our OLFU tuition fee guide covers what the published schedules include and what sits outside them.
Sources
- Requirements — admission requirements for basic education, senior high, college and dentistry freshmen, College of Medicine, graduate school, ETEEAP, transferees, cross-enrollees, ALS passers and international students, Our Lady of Fatima University
- Apply: College — application requirements, five-step procedure, minimum required fees and campus payment gateways, Our Lady of Fatima University
- Apply: College of Medicine (for students in the Philippines) — requirements including NMAT, and the medicine fee structure, Our Lady of Fatima University
- OLFU Scholarship Exam Guidelines — eligibility, on-campus conduct, discount tiers and session pattern, Our Lady of Fatima University
- All About Enrollment — the enrolment landing page linking procedures, requirements, fees and financial aid, Our Lady of Fatima University
- Enrollment Procedures — the per-level procedure index and OLFU's statement of its six campuses, Our Lady of Fatima University
