TL;DR: The SHS Voucher Program gives Grade 10 completers a tuition subsidy to attend a private or non-DepEd senior high school. Public JHS completers and ESC grantees qualify automatically (QVR); everyone else applies through OVAP at ovap.peac.org.ph. Under the last published rates (DepEd Order 020, s. 2023), full vouchers ran up to PHP 22,500/year in NCR, PHP 20,000 in other highly urbanized cities, and PHP 17,500 elsewhere, with lower tiers for ESC grantees and other categories. New guidelines (DepEd Order 11, s. 2026) apply from SY 2026-2027, so confirm current amounts with DepEd or PEAC before you enroll.
Introduction
If your child is finishing Grade 10 and you're planning to send them to a private senior high school, the SHS Voucher Program (SHS VP) is one of the biggest cost factors to understand before you commit to a school. It can knock tens of thousands of pesos off a year's tuition, but only if your child qualifies for the right category and the receiving school actually participates in the program.
This guide walks through what the SHS voucher is, who gets it automatically versus who has to apply, how much it's actually worth by region, how it connects to the ESC grant from junior high, and the exact steps to apply through PEAC's Online Voucher Application Portal (OVAP). We verified every figure against DepEd and PEAC sources and flagged anything that has changed or is pending confirmation under the newest DepEd order.
What is the SHS Voucher Program?
The SHS Voucher Program is a DepEd tuition subsidy, implemented jointly with the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC), for Grade 10 completers who want to attend Grade 11 and Grade 12 at a private or other non-DepEd senior high school. DepEd and PEAC are explicit that this is not a scholarship. It's a per-student subsidy paid directly to the receiving school, and it typically covers only part of tuition and other fees, not the full cost.
The subsidy is meant to run for two consecutive years, covering both Grade 11 and Grade 12, as long as the student is promoted to the next grade level and stays enrolled in a VP-participating school each year.
Who is eligible for the SHS voucher (QVR vs non-QVR)?
Eligibility splits into two groups: Qualified Voucher Recipients (QVR), who get the voucher automatically, and non-QVR applicants, who must apply.
Automatically qualified (QVR), no application needed:
- Category A – Grade 10 completers from public junior high schools, including those who finished Grade 10 in a state university/college (SUC) or local university/college (LUC).
- Category B – Grade 10 completers from ESC-participating private junior high schools who were ESC grantees.
Must apply through OVAP or the receiving school (non-QVR):
- Category C – Grade 10 completers from private schools who were not ESC grantees.
- Category D – Grade 10 completers from earlier years (historically 2016 onward) who have not yet enrolled in Grade 11.
- Category E – ALS Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Test passers.
- Category F – Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) Grade 10 passers.
In practice: if your child came from a public school, or was already receiving an ESC grant in a private JHS, you don't file a separate voucher application, you present that status directly to the private SHS you're enrolling in. If your child came from a private school without an ESC grant, or falls into one of the other non-QVR categories, you need to register and apply through OVAP.
How much is the SHS voucher amount?
The most recent detailed, publicly documented amounts come from DepEd Order 020, series of 2023, which governed the program through school year 2025-2026. Under that order, the maximum voucher value varied by category and by where the receiving school is located:
| School location | QVR category A (public JHS) | Categories B-D (ESC grantees, private completers, older completers) |
|---|---|---|
| NCR | up to PHP 22,500/year | up to PHP 18,000/year |
| Highly urbanized cities (HUC) outside NCR | up to PHP 20,000/year | up to PHP 16,000/year |
| Other cities and municipalities | up to PHP 17,500/year | up to PHP 14,000/year |
Figures per DepEd Order 020, s. 2023, as summarized by participating schools; also reported in the press as "ranging from PHP 14,000 up to PHP 22,500 per year depending on category and location."
The school is paid the lower of this maximum voucher amount or its actual tuition and other fees, whichever is less. That means if a school charges less than the maximum voucher for its tier, DepEd only pays the actual fee, not the full ceiling.
Important update: DepEd issued new guidelines, DepEd Order No. 11, series of 2026, consolidating ESC, the SHS Voucher Program, and the Teachers' Salary Subsidy (TSS) under one framework called E-GASTPE, effective school year 2026-2027. Coverage is being expanded to roughly 1.47 million SHS voucher beneficiaries and about 990,000 ESC grantees, with new priority given to low-income households, Indigenous Peoples communities, and learners in geographically isolated or conflict-affected areas. As of this writing, the specific updated peso amounts under DO 11, s. 2026 have not been published in accessible DepEd or PEAC materials. Confirm current voucher amounts and deadlines directly with DepEd, PEAC (ovap.peac.org.ph), or your target school's registrar before budgeting for SHS.
How does the ESC grant relate to the SHS voucher?
They subsidize different levels and don't overlap. The Educational Service Contracting (ESC) grant covers Grade 7 to Grade 10 in a participating private junior high school. Reported ESC amounts have been roughly PHP 13,000/year in NCR, PHP 11,000/year in highly urbanized cities, and PHP 9,000/year elsewhere, with the same amount carried through all four JHS years for a given grantee.
The SHS Voucher Program picks up where ESC leaves off, covering Grade 11 and Grade 12. If your child held an ESC grant through JHS, that ESC-grantee status is precisely what makes them an automatically qualified Category B voucher recipient for senior high, no separate application required. If your child was in a public JHS instead, they qualify automatically as Category A. Either way, being an ESC grantee or a public-school completer means one less application to worry about at the SHS transition.
How do I apply for the SHS voucher through OVAP?
Only non-QVR applicants need to go through this. QVR students (Category A and B) skip this step and instead present their status directly to their chosen SHS.
- Check the announced application window. In recent cycles this opened in April and ran into May, with extended windows for ALS/PEPT passers (Categories E and F) running later, into August.
- Create an account on OVAP at ovap.peac.org.ph, the PEAC Online Voucher Application Portal.
- Fill out the online application and select your target VP-participating senior high school.
- Upload required documents, typically a 2x2 ID photo, proof of Grade 10 completion (report card or certificate), a parent or guardian consent form, and an affidavit of financial capacity where required.
- Wait for results posting, historically starting in June.
- Claim your voucher certificate once approved, and submit it to your chosen school by the announced deadline, historically running into September.
- Confirm the school is an active SHS VP participant. Not every private school joins every year, so verify directly with the school's registrar or admissions office before you assume the voucher will be honored there.
Deadlines shift every school year, so always check the current OVAP announcement or your target school's admissions office rather than relying on last year's dates.
Tips before you commit to a private SHS
- Confirm your category first. If you're unsure whether your child is QVR or non-QVR, ask your current JHS registrar. This determines whether you need to touch OVAP at all.
- Ask the receiving school if it's SHS VP-participating before you pay any reservation fee. A school that isn't enrolled in the program that year won't honor the voucher.
- Budget for the gap. The voucher rarely covers full private school tuition. Ask the school for its actual Grade 11-12 fee schedule and compare it against the current voucher ceiling for your category and location.
- Don't miss the OVAP window. Non-QVR applicants who miss the main application period may lose the chance to use the voucher for that school year.
- Re-verify every year. Voucher amounts, participating schools, and even eligibility categories can change from one DepEd order to the next, as they have with the new DO 11, s. 2026.
Sources
- PEAC – Senior High School Voucher Program (SHS VP)
- PEAC – Voucher Application
- PEAC – SHS Voucher Program Applications for 2026-2027
- PEAC Online Voucher Application Portal (OVAP) FAQs
- Mapua University – DepEd Senior High School Voucher Program (voucher amount table by category and location)
- GMA News Online – Moving up to senior high: How to avail education subsidy voucher from DepEd
- GMA News Online – DepEd targets 2.4M private school subsidy beneficiaries for SY 2026-2027
- Manila Bulletin – DepEd expands private school subsidy program for 2.4M students
- Manila Bulletin – DepEd opens online applications for Senior High School voucher program for SY 2025-2026
- DepEd – DO 020, s. 2023, Guidelines on the Implementation of the SHS Voucher Program
- GMA News Online – From public to private school: How incoming Grade 7 learners can become ESC grantees
Figures, deadlines, and participating-school lists change every school year and under the new DepEd Order 11, s. 2026 framework. Always confirm current SHS voucher amounts, eligibility, and deadlines directly with DepEd, PEAC, or your target school's registrar before enrolling.
Ready to shortlist senior high schools that fit your budget and voucher eligibility? Search verified school profiles on SchoolFinderPH or browse schools by city, such as Manila, to compare tuition and requirements side by side.
For related reading, see our guides on senior high school enrollment, scholarships for senior high school students, choosing your SHS strand, private school enrollment requirements, how to tell if a school is private or public, and the K-12 curriculum in the Philippines.
