San Carlos Seminary College in Cebu offers one undergraduate programme, an AB in Philosophy in which English subjects also count as majors, plus a three-year Non-AB route for graduates and a pre-college year for high school completers. Admission is a two-phase process including a three-day live-in seminar, and no tuition figure is published anywhere.
This is not a school you choose the way you choose a university. It is a college seminary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu, on Pope John Paul II Avenue, and its academic programme exists to serve priestly formation. Every published rule reflects that.
Location, phone and the profile are on our San Carlos Seminary College page, and other options in the city are on our schools in Cebu City listing.
A note on sourcing
The seminary has no working website. The domain it previously used, scsccebu.com, now redirects to an unrelated commercial site, which means it has left the seminary's control. Do not use it, and do not trust anything now published there as coming from the seminary.
Everything below comes from archived copies of the seminary's own pages, captured between 2020 and 2022 while the domain was still theirs. The seminary maintains an active Facebook presence, listed on our profile, and a landline. Both are more current than anything here, and any figure or date below should be confirmed with them.
The degree
San Carlos Seminary College began operating separately from the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos in school year 1971-72, with its own faculty and only first and second year students. Its first rector, Msgr. Alfeo Manalili, expanded the curriculum and obtained approval from what was then the Ministry of Education, now CHED, for the seminary to grant an AB degree with a double major in Philosophy and English. The first batch graduated in March 1975.
The published curriculum page titles the programme "Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in Philosophy". The academic rules then add the detail that makes the double-major framing real: "All Philosophy subjects are major subjects. English subjects are treated as major subjects in the college seminary."
That is not a formality. It sets a higher passing grade for English and it makes failing an English subject as serious as failing a philosophy subject. More on that below.
If you want to understand what an AB Philosophy is worth outside a seminary context, our AB Philosophy guide covers the ordinary university version, and our bachelor's degree explainer covers how Philippine degree structures work.
The four-year curriculum
The published programme runs on a 3-unit-per-subject structure across four years.
First year. First semester: Ethics, Understanding the Self, Readings in Philippine History, Science Technology and Society, Introduction to Philosophy, History of Western Philosophy 1 (Ancient), Theology 1 (Salvation History), PE 1, NSTP 1. Second semester: The Contemporary World, Mathematics in the Modern World, a GEC elective in College English Proficiency covering reading, writing and speech, Symbolic Logic, History of Western Philosophy 2 (Medieval), History of Chinese Philosophy, PE 2, NSTP 2.
Second year. First semester: Purposive Communication, a GEC elective in Public Speaking with Argumentation and Debate, Existentialism Phenomenology and Postmodernism, Advanced Philosophy of the Human Person, Philosophy of Knowledge (Epistemology), Philosophy of Nature (Cosmology), Theology 2 (The Church), PE 3. Second semester: Rizal, Art Appreciation, History of Indian Philosophy, History of Western Philosophy 3 (Renaissance and Modern), Aesthetics, Philosophy of Being (Metaphysics), a philosophy elective in Philosophy of Education, PE 4.
Third year. First semester: Philosophy of God (Theodicy), Modern Asian Thoughts, Socio-Political Philosophy, Seminar on Filipino Philosophy, a philosophy elective in Environmental Philosophy, Latin 1, Theology 3 (Apologetics). Second semester: a GEC elective in Great Literatures of the World, Philosophy of Language and Culture, Comparative Philosophy (East and West), Methods of Philosophical Research, Special Questions in Philosophy, a philosophy elective in Philosophy of Religion, Latin 2, and a comprehensive examination.
Fourth year. First semester: Thesis Writing, Special Questions in Ethics, a philosophy elective in Philosophy of Science and Technology, Thesis Defense. Second semester: Seminar on Contemporary Philosophy, Seminar on Plato and Aristotle, a philosophy elective in Hermeneutics.
Three things stand out. The Asian philosophy coverage is unusually strong for a Philippine seminary: Chinese philosophy in first year, Indian philosophy in second, Modern Asian Thoughts and Comparative Philosophy East and West in third, plus a Seminar on Filipino Philosophy. Latin is required across third year. And the programme is genuinely research-terminal, with a comprehensive examination in third year and a written thesis with a defence in fourth.
The other two routes in
The Non-AB Program. Applicants who already hold at least a four-year college degree may take a three-year Non-AB programme in preparation for theology. This is the route for later vocations, people who studied something else, worked, and then entered formation. It saves a second bachelor's degree.
Pre-College Formation, the Special Class. Candidates with only a high school diploma are required to complete at least one year of pre-college formation before entering the AB programme.
Transfer students. A college transferee without a degree is evaluated by the Dean of Studies, who determines which minor subjects taken elsewhere will be credited. The rule then states that in principle all major subjects, meaning Philosophy and English, are to be taken or re-taken in the seminary unless the Dean grants a special consideration. Expect to repeat your philosophy and English units.
The seminary organises its community into residential houses rather than year sections: the House of Augustine, House of Francis, House of Ignatius, House of Thomas, and a House or Class of Pedro for the propaedeutic class. The house structure dates to the rectorship of Msgr. Roger Fuentes from 2002.
Our directory record lists senior high school at this address. The seminary's own published pages describe a college seminary with a pre-college Special Class and a propaedeutic class, not a DepEd senior high school programme. If you are enquiring for a senior high school student, confirm exactly what level and what curriculum is on offer before assuming.
How admission works
The published process:
- Apply in person. Fill out an application form available at the Registrar's Office. There is no published online route.
- Phase I: entrance examinations. Pass these to proceed.
- Phase II: a three-day live-in seminar and orientation to college seminary life. During this phase the candidate must pass an interview and an evaluation by the seminary formators and staff.
- Credentials. The candidate must hold at least a high school education.
Then enrolment: enrol on the prescribed days with the required documents, and pay. The published rule says that amount normally covers two months advance payment of board and lodging plus miscellaneous fees, any back accounts, and tuition according to the payment schedule set by the school.
Note what that implies. This is residential. Board and lodging is part of the bill, not an optional extra, and it is billed in advance.
Withdrawal and dropping follow CHED regulations or the Registrar's rules. Students may withdraw or cancel registration in one or all subjects within two weeks of enrolment, with an official form approved by the Dean of Studies, and no academic penalty applies within that window.
The last published admission contact was the rector, Rev. Msgr. Joseph C. Tan, who also serves as media liaison of the Archdiocese of Cebu. Given the age of that page, confirm the current rector and admissions contact before writing.
The academic rules are strict, and you should read them before applying
This is the most decision-relevant material the seminary published.
Grading. 1.0 to 5.0, highest to lowest. A grade of 1.5 and above is described as excellent; 2.0 to 1.6 as superior.
Passing grades. 2.5 for all major subjects, meaning every Philosophy subject and every English subject. 3.0 for minor subjects.
Disqualification. Failing marks, meaning below 2.5, in two major subjects within the same semester disqualifies the student from continuing at the seminary. So does a failing mark in a Philosophy or English subject already taken previously. So does failing to maintain a general average of at least 2.5 across all subjects in a semester.
Attendance. A failing mark is given to a student who exceeds the allowance: 10 excused absences or 3 unexcused absences.
Incomplete work. A grade of NG is given if the final examination was not taken or written work was not submitted. If the work or special examination is not completed within the designated time, a week at most, the grade automatically becomes 5.
Three unexcused absences ending in a failing mark is tighter than almost any Philippine university. Read that as a statement about the institution: this is a formation programme where attendance is part of the formation, not a course you attend when convenient.
The four pillars
The seminary organises formation into four pillars, following the Updated Philippine Program for Priestly Formation.
Academic formation is the curriculum above.
Human formation covers affective maturity, balanced judgement and leadership modelled on the Good Shepherd, delivered through structured sessions at each academic level by a specialist working with the rector and spiritual director, supported by a screened Lay Companion programme that dates to the rectorship of Msgr. Oscar Villamor in 1989. It also covers a Regency Program, a supervised leave of absence from the seminary, requested by the seminarian or imposed by the formators, with monthly recollections, monthly reporting to the rector and prefect of discipline, monthly spiritual direction, and a written report at the end.
Spiritual formation includes daily meditation on scripture, the Liturgy of the Hours, daily Mass, weekly confession availability, spiritual direction at least monthly, monthly recollections, yearly retreats, and a recommended five-day guided retreat for senior students. Community devotions include First Friday vigils, Stations of the Cross in Lent, the Legion of Mary on Wednesdays, and the Angelus three times daily.
Pastoral formation covers summer apostolate and vocation campaigns, chapel apostolate, apostolate with the elderly, catechism and feeding programmes, processed through a weekly Bible sharing called MaKaLiPang and a Significant Incident Report.
The seminary's chapel, built under its second rector Msgr. Felino Caballa from 1975, is open to the public on Sundays and holy days as part of the seminarians' neighbourhood pastoral work.
For foreign candidates or anyone comparing theology and seminary options across the country, our guide to theology and seminary schools for foreign students covers the wider landscape.
Sources
- San Carlos Seminary College, Admission (archived copy of scsccebu.com/admission/, captured 8 August 2020)
- San Carlos Seminary College, Brief History (archived copy, captured 8 August 2020)
- San Carlos Seminary College, Academic Formation: curriculum, grading, retention and withdrawal rules (archived copy of scsccebu.com/pillars-of-formation/academic-formation/, captured 10 August 2022)
- San Carlos Seminary College, Human Formation and Regency Program (archived copy, captured 22 April 2021)
- San Carlos Seminary College, Pastoral Formation (archived copy, captured 22 April 2021)
- San Carlos Seminary College, Spirituality Formation (archived copy, captured 10 August 2022)
- San Carlos Seminary College homepage, vision and mission (archived copy, captured 8 August 2020)