1995 DWU graduating students may now be accepted, CHED says

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
August 21, 2007

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  The Commission on Higher Education in the Region headed by Director Ma. Rita Ortiz, has allowed two private schools in the Region to accept the Divine Word University students who were unable to finish their collegiate program of study due to the closure of the Divine Word University in 1995.

Director Ortiz said she has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Asian Development Foundation College Chief Executive Officer Dr. Edward Y. Chua and the Saint Paul’s Business School President Absalon Apostol, who both agreed to give special consideration to the DWU graduating students and honor them as graduates when they enroll and finish their courses at the ADFC and SPBS where they will be given Special Orders and Diplomas.

It would be recalled that when the Divine Word University closed in 1995, some of the students failed to graduate due to lack of units/subjects and have failed to finish their courses up to the present. Also, because of the closure, the Divine Word University could no longer give permits to study, to the said students.

The former DWU will release transfer credentials to the said graduating students and the ADFC and the SPBS will accept them and will no longer require them to undergo the school program, residency or any requirement pertinent to a transferee.

Director Ortiz, however, reminded the said graduating student that the special consideration is valid only for the period of two years, from June 2006 to June 2008, without any extension.

The Divine Word University or DWU was a private, Catholic, co-educational institution of higher learning run by the Society of the Divine Word or SVD in Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines.

Founded in 1927, it was closed in June 1995 by the school administrators after a court ruling favoring its labor union.

DWU was the biggest and best Catholic institution of higher learning in Leyte and Samar (Region VIII). At its peak, it had around 14,000 students, and a faculty complement of about 400 of the best teachers in Region VIII. It offered courses in around twenty different fields including Law and Medicine, and pioneered in indigenous research in the Region. It produced Board topnotchers year after year, and was considered a very good cost-effective alternative to more expensive private schools in Cebu and Manila for the students of Leyte and Samar.