UP Diliman publishes a tuition rate of P1,500 per unit. Almost no Filipino undergraduate there pays it. Since Republic Act 10931 took effect, state universities are barred from collecting tuition and other school fees from Filipino students in undergraduate programmes, and UP is a state university.
That single sentence causes most of the confusion. The rate is still published, because the university still needs a number to bill against for the students the law does not cover. Understanding who those students are is the whole point of this guide.
The published rates, and who they apply to
UP Diliman's admissions office publishes a fee schedule that still runs on the Socialized Tuition (ST) bands from before the free tuition law:
| ST discount | Tuition per unit |
|---|---|
| No discount | P1,500 |
| 33 per cent | P1,000 |
| 60 per cent | P600 |
| 80 per cent | P300 |
| 100 per cent | Free tuition, free miscellaneous fees, free laboratory fees |
On top of tuition, UP Diliman lists laboratory fees of P150 to P1,800 per laboratory subject, varying by college, and a set of miscellaneous fees that in the university's own sample breakdown for a second-year BS Chemistry student add up to roughly P2,000 across library, registration, medical, cultural, internet and energy line items.
If you are a Filipino undergraduate in good standing, none of the above is money you hand over. The schedule exists for graduate students, for students who have lost coverage, for students who opt out, and for foreign students.
What RA 10931 actually says
The law is the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. Two of its definitions do most of the work.
Section 3 defines tuition as the charges for the subjects or courses a student enrols in. Section 3 also defines other school fees as a list: library fees, computer fees, laboratory fees, school ID fees, athletic fees, admission fees, development fees, guidance fees, handbook fees, entrance fees, registration fees, medical and dental fees, cultural fees, and other similar or related fees. That list is the reason UP's ST table shows miscellaneous and laboratory fees waived at the top bracket, not just tuition.
Sections 4 and 5 extend free tuition and other school fees to Filipino students in bachelor's, certificate and comparable undergraduate programmes at state universities and colleges and local universities and colleges, and to post-secondary TVET students at state-run technical-vocational institutions, provided they pass the institution's entrance examination and its other admission and retention requirements.
Section 4 also requires every SUC and LUC to build a mechanism letting students who can afford it voluntarily opt out of the subsidy or contribute to the school. Opting out is a real choice at UP, not a formality, and it is why some UP families still pay.
Section 12 puts teeth in it. Illegal collection of fees carries imprisonment of six months to one year, or a fine of P20,000 to P100,000.
For the wider picture of how this fits with the other national schemes, see our CHED free tuition guide and the list of free tuition universities in the Philippines.
The four ways a Filipino student loses coverage
Section 6 of the law sets the exclusions, and UP's own registrar pages repeat them almost word for word. Fees are collected from a student who:
- Already holds a bachelor's or comparable undergraduate degree from any higher education institution, public or private. A second bachelor's is billed.
- Fails to comply with the university's admission and retention policies. UP's retention rules are its own; the law defers to them rather than replacing them.
- Goes more than one year past the prescribed length of the programme. A four-year degree gives you five years of coverage. Year six is billed. This is the exclusion that catches shifters and students who take repeated leaves.
- Voluntarily opts out.
Point three is worth sitting with. Shifting course, failing a prerequisite that only runs in one semester, or taking a leave of absence all eat into that one-year cushion. If you are already behind, read our guide on back subjects and irregular student status before you plan another semester.
What free tuition does not touch
The law separates school fees from what it calls other education-related expenses: books, supplies, uniforms and devices. Those are named in Section 3 as a distinct category precisely because the free tuition provision does not reach them. Neither does it reach dormitory rent, food, transport, internship costs, or the licensure exam fees you pay the Professional Regulation Commission after you graduate.
This is why UP students on free tuition still apply for stipends. The Tertiary Education Subsidy, run through UniFAST, exists to cover exactly this gap for students who need it; our CHED TES guide explains who qualifies. Budget the living side separately from day one.
Graduate, law and medicine
RA 10931's free tuition provision is written around bachelor's, certificate and comparable undergraduate degrees. Graduate programmes are not in that description.
UP's law and medicine degrees are entered after an undergraduate degree, which puts them outside the undergraduate wording. If you are heading into either, plan on being billed and ask the specific college about its own subsidy, loan and service-return schemes rather than assuming the national law carries you. The same applies to a master's or PhD.
UP Diliman's graduate tuition, per the university's international office, runs from PhP 300 to PhP 2,500 per unit depending on the programme, which is a wide enough band that you should get the figure from your own department rather than from any general page.
What foreign students pay at UP Diliman
RA 10931 is a benefit for Filipino students. Nothing in it extends to foreign nationals, and UP prices accordingly.
UP Diliman's Office for International Linkages publishes this schedule for international students:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition, undergraduate | PhP 1,500.00 per unit |
| Tuition, graduate | PhP 300.00 to PhP 2,500.00 per unit |
| Miscellaneous fees, undergraduate | PhP 2,000.00 |
| Miscellaneous fees, graduate | PhP 1,415.00 |
| Student fund | PhP 78.50 |
| Laboratory fees | PhP 100.00 to PhP 1,500.00 |
| Educational Development Fee | USD 300 undergraduate, USD 500 graduate |
The Educational Development Fee is the line that surprises people. It is charged in dollars, it is charged to non-Filipino students, and it is the main reason a foreign student's bill at UP is not simply the peso tuition table.
UP Diliman's own admissions page frames the foreign student cost differently again, quoting matriculation fees — tuition, miscellaneous and student fund combined — of P4,661.50 to P31,490.50 for a maximum of 12 units. The two pages are describing overlapping but not identical bundles, and neither is a quote. Write to OIL Diliman at [email protected] for a current assessment before you commit to anything, and treat any third-party figure you find online as unverified.
If you are comparing the Philippines against other destinations, our breakdown of the cost of studying in the Philippines for international students covers the non-tuition side, and the international student requirements guide covers the paperwork.
Filipinos abroad and dual citizens
This is the question the guide gets asked most from overseas. The law's benefit attaches to Filipino citizenship, not to residence. A Filipino citizen living abroad who is admitted to a UP undergraduate programme is a Filipino undergraduate for the purposes of RA 10931.
What you will be asked for is proof. UP's registrar will want documents establishing citizenship, and a dual citizen should expect to produce the identification certificate or recognition papers rather than a passport alone. Ask the Office of the University Registrar what it accepts before enrolment week, not during it. If you are entering on a foreign passport and intend to be assessed as a Filipino, that mismatch needs resolving in advance.
Students entering on a student visa rather than as citizens should read the 9(f) student visa guide, which explains the immigration side that runs in parallel with admission.
How to check your own bill
Do these four things rather than trusting a table, including this one.
Confirm your coverage status in writing. Ask the Office of the University Registrar whether you are recorded as covered under RA 10931 for the coming semester. Coverage is a status on your record, and status changes.
Count your years against the prescribed length. Add one. If your enrolment falls outside that window, you will be billed, and there is no appeal to the law.
Read the assessment line by line. The waived items should appear as zero, not be absent. An assessment that quietly carries a fee you thought was covered is worth querying immediately, given the penalty the law attaches to improper collection.
Get international rates from OIL, not from the internet. Fee schedules for foreign students change and are quoted in two currencies. Only the university's own written assessment binds.
For a UP-system-wide view rather than a Diliman-specific one, see our UP tuition fee guide and the explainer on UP socialized tuition.
The short version
UP Diliman's P1,500 per unit is a real number that most Filipino undergraduates never pay. The law that removes it is specific: Filipino, undergraduate, in good standing, within the prescribed period plus one year, not already holding a degree. Miss any of those and the published schedule becomes your schedule.
Foreign students are outside the law entirely and pay peso tuition plus a dollar-denominated development fee. Nobody, Filipino or foreign, gets housing, food, books or licensure fees covered. Plan the living costs as if tuition were the smaller problem, because for most UP students it is.
Sources
- Republic Act No. 10931, full text — LawPhil Project
- Fees and Other Information — University of the Philippines Diliman
- Study in UPD, Office for International Linkages — UP Diliman
- Free Tuition, Office of the University Registrar — UP Open University
- Tuition and Financial Aid — University of the Philippines Baguio
- Student eligibility for free higher education — University of the Philippines
