San Beda University publishes something most Philippine universities keep vague: the actual grade cut-offs it uses. A freshman needs an average of 82 with no failing grade. A senior high applicant needs a general average of at least 83, no subject or quarter below 80, and a conduct average of at least 82. Those numbers are on the university's own admissions pages, per college.
That transparency makes San Beda unusually easy to plan for. Below is its programme list college by college, taken from its own academic programmes and admissions sections, followed by the admission mechanics and the one place the site contradicts itself.
San Beda's address and contact details sit on our San Beda University profile page. This post is about the programmes.
College of Accountancy and Business
Accounting programmes
- BS Accountancy
- BS Management Accounting
- BS Internal Audit
- BS Accounting Information Systems
San Beda describes each of these against a specific professional framework rather than just a job list. Management accounting is aligned to the US Certified Management Accountant syllabus, internal audit to the Certified Internal Auditor framework, and accounting information systems to the Certified Information Systems Auditor framework. BS Accountancy is the one that qualifies you for the Board of Accountancy licensure examination. Our BS Accountancy guide explains the CPA route.
The college also runs an SBU CPALE Refresher Program with its own overview, curriculum and admission pages, aimed at graduates preparing for the board.
Business administration programmes
- BSBA Human Resource Management
- BSBA Operations Management
- BSBA Financial Management
- BSBA Marketing Management
- BS Entrepreneurship
- BS Legal Management
Note that BS Legal Management sits under the business college here, not under arts and sciences. Given San Beda's law school, that placement is worth thinking about if pre-law is your aim. Ask the college whether legal management there is built as a pre-law pathway or as a corporate compliance one, because schools use the title for both.
College of Arts and Sciences
The programmes San Beda lists on the CAS admissions page:
- AB English
- AB Literature
- AB Political Science
- BS Psychology
- BS Economics and Public Policy
- BS Environmental Science
- BS Human Biology
- BS Computer Science
- BS Information Systems
- BS Information Technology
- BSESS major in Fitness and Sports Management
A few notes on individual programmes, drawn from the college's own descriptions. AB Literature runs on two tracks, Literature and Cultural Studies, and Literature Across the Professions. AB English appears in the college's descriptive material as AB English Language or AB English Language Studies. BS Human Biology is described as a pre-medical preparation programme rather than a general biology degree, which matters if medicine is the plan. Our BS Environmental Science guide covers one of the more commonly asked-about options here.
The one place the site disagrees with itself
San Beda's CAS admissions page lists three separate computing degrees: BS Computer Science, BS Information Systems and BS Information Technology. The CAS degree programmes page, which carries the longer descriptions, instead describes a single programme called BS Information and Communication Technology and does not describe the three separately.
Both pages are current parts of the university site. The admissions page is the more specific and more recently structured of the two, but do not guess. If a computing degree at San Beda is your target, email the College of Arts and Sciences and ask which degree title will appear on your diploma. Our BS Computer Science guide explains what the distinct CHED programme standards require, which is exactly why the answer matters.
The physical education programme has the same issue in milder form: the admissions page calls it BSESS major in Fitness and Sports Management while the degree programmes page describes a Bachelor of Physical Education major in Sports and Wellness Management. Ask.
College of Education
- Bachelor of Early Childhood Education
- Bachelor of Special Needs Education - Generalist
San Beda publishes the CHED permit numbers for both on the college's admissions page, which is a genuinely useful detail few universities bother to display. A permit number tells you the programme is authorised and roughly how new it is.
Both are four-year teacher education degrees leading to the Licensure Examination for Teachers. San Beda publishes the unit breakdown for each, including its own Bedan courses component alongside general education, professional education, specialisation and mandated courses. Early childhood and special needs education lead to different specialisations on the same licence, so check which one your target teaching post actually requires.
College of Nursing
- BS Nursing
San Beda describes the programme as grounded in nursology, caring science and palliative philosophy, with pedagogy rooted in the Benedictine values of prayer and work. The admission policy is identical to the arts and sciences one: an average of 82 with no failing grade, a passed entrance examination and interview, and a favourable recommendation. Nursing carries a licensure examination, so accreditation status and passing history are worth asking about.
College of Medicine
- Doctor of Medicine
San Beda's published admission policy for medicine is that an applicant should be a graduate, or a candidate for graduation, of an accredited four-year or longer baccalaureate programme in arts or sciences from a recognised or accredited institution by the end of the term preceding application. The published application fee is PHP 1,600.00, non-refundable.
Our NMAT guide covers the aptitude test Philippine medical schools use in admission.
College of Law
- Juris Doctor (non-thesis)
San Beda's College of Law publishes more of its rules than most law schools do, and several of them are restrictive enough that you should read them before applying:
- All first-time entrants take an entrance examination described as mainly a test of logic, comprehension, articulation and aptitude for the law profession. It is given upon prior application, generally between the close of one school year and the reopening of classes.
- Transferees from other schools are not accepted except in extremely meritorious cases determined by the Dean.
- A former San Beda student who transferred to another college or university is not allowed re-admission.
- All new students, and those re-enrolling after two consecutive semesters away, are on academic probation for the entire school year.
- Students must carry at least 60 percent of the prescribed units per year level per semester, and must complete the curriculum within six years of admission. A student whose evaluation shows they cannot finish within six years will not be re-admitted.
- Overloading is not allowed except in fourth year.
- The published application fee is PHP 1,600.00, non-refundable.
Our bar exam guide explains what comes after the degree.
Graduate School of Business
- Master in Business Administration
- Doctor in Business Administration
Graduate School of Law
- Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD), with an LLM prerequisite
- Doctor of Canon Law (JCD)
- Master of Comparative Law
- Master of Laws (LLM), with tracks in Civil Law, Commercial Law, Constitutional Law, International Law and Canon Law
- Master of Legal Studies (MLS), with specialisations in Criminal Justice Administration, Economic Law and International Law
- Master of Legal Studies, special programme for priests and curial personnel, specialising in Philippine and Canon Law
The LLM prerequisite is a bachelor of laws or Juris Doctor, and San Beda notes that non-members of the bar may be admitted provided they hold a JD or LLB with a GPA of 90. The MLS accepts applicants with an LLB or JD, or a bachelor's degree with 18 units in the social sciences, and applicants working in the PNP, NBI, DILG and related agencies must submit a certificate of employment. The published application fee for the Graduate School of Law is PHP 750.00, non-refundable.
Graduate School of Liturgy
San Beda runs a Graduate School of Liturgy with a master of arts course programme and a doctoral course programme in liturgical science, covering liturgical theology, liturgical sources, practical and pastoral liturgy, rituality and liturgical spirituality. The master's programme includes liturgical Latin and Latin liturgical translation in its first year.
This is a genuinely specialised school and it is rare in the Philippines. It runs on a trimestral structure according to its own published course outline.
Integrated Basic Education Department and senior high school
San Beda runs an Integrated Basic Education Department, and its senior high school admissions page lists an SHS Academic Track. The published grade requirements for senior high are a general average of at least 83 percent, no subject or quarter grade below 80 percent, and a conduct average of at least 82 percent, assessed on the Grade 10 final report card. Recommendation forms from both an adviser and a counsellor are required.
An academic track is the only senior high option San Beda publishes, so a technical or arts strand would mean looking elsewhere for Grades 11 and 12.
Admission policy across the colleges
The pattern San Beda publishes for freshmen at both arts and sciences and nursing is the same:
- Grade average of 82 with no failing grade in any subject
- Passed entrance examination and interview
- Favourable recommendation from officials of the last school attended
For transferees and second-degree applicants:
- GPA or GWA of 82 from the last school attended
- No failing grade
- No incomplete grade, and no subject withdrawn without permission in more than three units per semester
- Passed entrance examination and interview
- Favourable recommendation
San Beda adds three conditions that catch people out. Admission is limited to those seeking enlistment in first or second year of the desired course. A transferee must not have been previously enrolled in two or more colleges or universities unless grades are exceptionally high. And a former San Beda student who transferred elsewhere is not allowed re-admission.
On credit transfer, San Beda credits a subject graded 82 or above where the description matches a subject in the degree programme, but the Board of Admissions may still require it repeated. Budget for the possibility that credited subjects still have to be retaken.
San Beda College Alabang is a different school
San Beda University in Mendiola and San Beda College Alabang are related Benedictine institutions with separate campuses, separate admissions offices and different programme lists. Everything on this page is the Mendiola list. If Alabang is where you want to study, work from that school's own site.
Fees
San Beda publishes payment options, accounting FAQs and downloadable forms through its accounting office pages, and publishes application fees for law, medicine and the Graduate School of Law. It does not publish a per-programme undergraduate tuition table in the way some private universities do, so the reliable figure is the assessment you get from the Accounting Office for your programme and load. Our San Beda tuition fee guide covers how the cost structure works.
Sources
- San Beda University, College of Accountancy and Business degree programmes: https://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/manila/academic-programs/accountancy-and-business/degree-programs
- San Beda University, College of Arts and Sciences degree programmes: https://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/manila/academic-programs/college-of-arts-and-sciences/degree-programs
- San Beda University, admissions pages by college: https://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/manila/admissions
- San Beda University, College of Education admissions: https://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/manila/admissions/coe
- San Beda University, College of Law admissions: https://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/manila/admissions/col
- San Beda University, Graduate School of Law degree programmes: https://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/manila/academic-programs/graduate-school-of-law/degree-programs
- San Beda University, Graduate School of Liturgy degree programmes: https://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/manila/academic-programs/graduate-school-of-liturgy/degree-programs
