ETEEAP: Just Sharing my Experience about it

Heto po yung mga picture ng Official Candidate for graduation ng ETEEAP BS Electronics Engineering Batch 2013. Yung iba kong classmates ay di pa kasama dito dahil meron silang Incomplete grade. But as of this writing na-settle na nila yung mga deficiencies.

By the time you will read this post, perhaps I am already a graduate as right now, I have just defended my Project Study after excruciating experience during final defense. This coming March 16-17, 2013 is our last day of the program. That days are actually the Final Examination based on our ETEEAP calendar. This was not the first time that I wrote an article regarding the program. In one of my blog which I abandoned already due to lack of time, I also wrote similar article regarding my experience of the said program. But in this post, I will try to write it well-detailed, neat and more informative. (But please be patient with my grammar LOL!)

So what is ETEEAP?

Well, many are still not familiar with the said program of the Commission on Higher Education being implemented for more than a decade now. As a background for those people not familiar with the said program, ETEEAP-the acronym for the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program was implemented after the executive order of then President Ramos. The executive order which I forgot the exact number was tasking the qualified colleges or universities in the Philippines to grant degree to those people who has relevant experiences related to the course they are applying for the equivalency. But only a few universities in the country today were qualfied to implement the said program. In the whole Luzon, I personally recommend for those planning to take ETEEAP the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation in Lucena City. They are the best implementor of the said program and not to mention they are doing this for more than a decade now.

For the complete information about the program, here's ETEEAP link from CHED website. I am also regularly sharing information about the program in Symbianize forum, you can follow the thread in this link. The said forum is very informative with many ETEEAPers sharing their experiences about ETEEAP.

Who is qualified to take ETEEAP?

Before, the basic qualification of CHED requires an applicant to be at least 22 years old. But now as of school calendar 2012-2013, the minimum age of ETEEAP applicant must be at least 25 years old during filing of application. Other qualification includes at least 5 years work experience relevant to the degree being applied for. Meaning, if you are applying equivalency of let's say Electronics Engineering then your work experience should be related to Electronics, Communication, or Data Communication. Apart from these basic qualifications, the applicant must also be able to present certifications of training and other proofs of knowledge about the course. As part of the process, the applicant must submit application form (downloadable online via CHED) to the Commission on Higher Education. You can apply for ETEEAP directly in some universities in our country like MSEUF without going to CHED.

Not all universities and colleges offer the ETEEAP. The way ETEEAP is being offered varies according to the school. I cannot talked about how the ETEEAP is being offered in some schools because I have no idea or personal information. I am only talking here about my personal encounter of ETEEAP in MSEUF where I graduated with the degree of Electronics Engineering.

Tuition  and Miscellaneous Fee

One of the major concern of ETEEAP applicant is the tuition and miscellaneous fees. As I have said earlier, I cannot talked about tuition fee of other schools implementing ETEEAP. Nonetheless you will get a clue here considering that ETEEAP tuition fee is almost the same. In MSEUF, the tuition and miscellaneous fee was Php 30,000 for each semester last SY 2012-2013. For local student in the Philippines, payment can be done by installment while student abroad must have to pay the tuition fee in cash. They have to shoulder also the expenses in work visitation of the assessors.

MSEUF ETEEAP PROGRAM

Pros:
Their program is one of the best in the country.
Very systematic approach
No time is wasted as everything is scheduled
Instructors are expert on their respective field.

Cons:
The school is very far from Metro Manila where majority (almost) of students came from.
Project Study/Thesis is Individual (much harder)
Work Visit is part of the program (in case of OFW- additional expenses)

Just to give you a preview, I am a resident of Taguig City during my ETEEAP undertakings. So in order for me to reach Lucena I have to wake up very early in the morning. Around 4a.m., I should be at Buendia Terminal in Pasay to catch the JAC Liner bus bound to Lucena by 4:30a.m. Just in case you were not able to catch the bus that early, there are still many options going to Lucena as there are three bus terminal in Buendia.

For those who are worried due to financial constraint, this was my problem also. To give you a preview, I am just earning below 15K/month. So to compensate my problem, I took loan from SSS, Pag-ibig Fund and took regular overtime. I am also a breadwinner in our family so it was really a big problem. Yet, I was able to push through.

At present, I am now a graduate but I am still on the process of getting the credentials. I am looking  forward to find new job since the company where I am currently working for almost eight years now is a big!!!!. No salary increase for almost several years now. No benefits like transportation allowance,  health, etc. (not typical to semiconductor company in the Philippines- Taiwanese kasi may-ari)

What's the latest?
As per new CHED ETEEAP Policy, the minimum work experience needed now to qualify for ETEEAP is 10 years. Also degree holder or those graduates of four year course can now take ETEEAP. The information was relayed to me by one of my classmates last April 29, 2013. I think this was the result of CHED ETEEAP public hearing conducted early this year.