Comparative policy analysis of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act in the Philippines to improve equity, quality, and governance

Abstract

Globally, tuition-free higher education policies serve as core strategies for achieving inclusive growth and advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4. This study provides a rigorous, multidimensional assessment of the Philippines’ Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (RA 10931) through systematic Comparative Policy Analysis (CPA) integrating documentary evidence, scholarly literature, and international benchmarking against models in Germany, Chile, and Russia. The analysis reveals a critical paradox: while the policy has successfully democratized access by eliminating tuition as a primary barrier, implementation has unintentionally perpetuated socioeconomic inequity through untargeted subsidies that disproportionately benefit middle-income households, compromised quality assurance through quality assurance capacity strain, and created governance failures manifested in chronic fund disbursement delays. To address these challenges, this study proposes an evidence-based reform framework organized around four strategic pillars: (1) Financial Re-Targeting via tiered subsidies indexed to household income, modeled on Chile’s Gratuidad system; (2) Quality Modernization through infrastructure investment and faculty development; (3) Governance Enhancement via digital management systems and streamlined disbursement protocols; and (4) International Competitiveness through curricula alignment and academic partnerships. Each reform is explicitly linked to synthesized evidence, comparative policy mechanisms, and implementation feasibility assessment. This research contributes methodologically by operationalizing a structured comparative framework with transferability analysis; empirically by demonstrating causal mechanisms linking subsidy design to inequitable outcomes; and pragmatically by providing implementation-ready reforms addressing political economy constraints and resource requirements. The findings offer actionable pathways for policymakers to strengthen RA 10931’s equity-performance nexus while ensuring fiscal sustainability and SDG 4 alignment.