We congratulate the Mountain Province State University for attaining that status.
The final measure of a State University‘s or College’s success will be the kind of academic reputation it will develop over the years. If it will compromise on admission policies and academic standards, it will surely have a shitty reputation in a few years.
The acid test is usually how such a university will deal with political interference. If it will give in to such, then it will be well on its way to developing a shitty reputation. In short, it will in the end, be a big failure.
Yes, political interference is the biggest stumbling block in an SUC’S quest for success. The most successful SUC in this country is admittedly the University of the Philippines. It cannot be influenced by the powers-that-be. If somehow a politician like the President of the Philippines can facilitate the entry of a student, rest assured the professors will not compromise on academic standards. The favored student will in due time be kicked out for being academically unfit. Also, undue influence being exerted in this respect will certainly become a big national scandal.
And we are well aware of an incoming UP student who qualified to enter a UP campus. He, however, wanted to enter another UP campus and the university president intervened. The administrators of the campus he wanted to enroll in did not budge. They only allowed the student to enroll after the time for the enrollment of those originally qualified lapsed. By then it was shown there were a few vacancies. So the transfer was allowed.
Closer to home, we still have to hear of any political interference in the Benguet State University (BSU) which enjoys a relatively good reputation. The only thing we heard was the screening process when the admission was based on grades during the pandemic. So many lowlanders were able to get in because they had very high grades in the lowlands due to the low standards of the high schools they graduated from. Now there are talks of bringing back entrance exam scores as main bases of admission.
Back to where we began. We have to watch how Mountain Province State University will fare. Hopefully it will do well. We will see.**