Schools with no license to operate can’t grant honorary degrees – CHED

Schools, colleges, and institutions of higher learning that have not been issued government authority to operate cannot grant honorary degrees to individuals, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Wednes-

day said.

CHED Officer-in-Charge and Spokesperson J. Prospero De Vera III in a statement strongly warned the public against HEIs that do not have permit to operate. The warning was prompted by reports that Brethren Evangelical School of Theology (BEST) in Gapan, Nueva Ecija reportedly conferred a Ph.D. in Humanities, major in Social Work to actor-model Daniel Matsunaga.

“Based on CHED records, the school has never applied for an authority to operate from the Commission and is not recognized as a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the Philippines,” De Vera said. The awarding of honoris causa to individuals by BEST, he added, “violates the policies and guidelines” set forth under CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 19, series of 2014 or the “Enhanced Policies and Guidelines on the Conferment of Honorary Doctorate Degrees by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).”

“The CMO stipulates that only HEIs that existed for at least 25 years and possess a well-acknowledged academic reputation, institutional values and mission, among others, can confer honorary doctorate degrees,” De Vera said.

De Vera also advised the public that the awarding of an Honorary Doctorate Degree or Honoris Causa by BEST “to any person will not be recognized” by the Commission. He added that CHED “shall impose the necessary sanctions against BEST in relation to the offering of degree programs upon compliance with the due process of law.”