MANILA — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P3.6 billion to cover the partial payment of stipends for students enrolled in private colleges and universities, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said Friday.

In a statement, the CHED said an initial 120,000 students from 404 private higher education institutions would receive their stipends under the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES).

"The Commission is instructing these 404 private schools to immediately coordinate with their grantees on the best way to distribute TES while following their respective local government quarantine rules," CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera said.

De Vera said CHED would continue to give TES grants to qualified beneficiaries in the remaining private higher education institutions as soon as funds are released by the DBM.

The TES, made possible through the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, gives P60,000 each school year to financially needy students in private schools and those studying in private schools in municipalities and cities without public universities.

The subsidy is used by students to pay tuition and miscellaneous fees and other educational expenses.