FACT CHECK: Link for ‘CHED Scholarship Program 2024’ is fake

Claim: The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is accepting applications for its 2024 scholarship program, open to elementary, high school, senior high school, and college students.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post containing the claim has 521 shares, 142 comments, and 90 reactions as of writing. It was posted by the Facebook page “DSWD DEPED CHED program” which has 1,100 followers and 760 likes.

The graphic used in the post claims that the 2024 CHED scholarship program will provide P5,000 to elementary students, P6,000 to junior high school students, P7,000 to senior high school students, and P8,000 to college students. Interested applicants are instructed to register online and present their school ID to be eligible for the supposed cash out on June 15.

The post also includes several supposed registration links.

The facts: The registration links and the supposed scholarship program are fake. On April 19, the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST), an attached agency of CHED, debunked social media posts that posed as application sites for their scholarship programs.

“The Commission on Higher Education-UniFAST reiterates its reminder to the public of these pages that post FAKE NEWS and share links leading to CLICKBAIT SCAM ADS, which are designed to steal personal information by making promises that are too good to be true like cash payouts when applying for the Tertiary Education Subsidy or the Tulong Dunong Program (TES-TDP),” the post said.

The agency also reminded the public to follow only the CHED and UniFAST’s official accounts for legitimate updates on their programs.

Rappler debunked a similar post last April 2024 that claimed CHED was giving P5,000 cash aid for all graduating students.

As of writing, the only CHED scholarship program currently accepting applications is the Scholarship Program for Coconut Farmers and their Families, which has a deadline of May 31, 2024.

ALSO ON RAPPLER

Conflicting details: Inconsistent with the claim in the post’s graphic, the links provided in the post caption itself are labeled “Landbank Scholarship Program 2024.” The supposed registration link redirects to a blog post posing as the registration site for Landbank’s scholarship program. Users can be seen providing their personal information such as name, age, address, and mobile number in the comment section, putting them at risk of falling victim to potential phishing scams. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)

On April 30, Landbank warned the public about fake cash assistance or scholarship posts circulating on social media. (READ: FACT CHECK: No educational cash assistance from Landbank)

CHED coverage: Contrary to the claim, CHED scholarships do not cover students in the elementary and secondary levels. The commission’s mandate is limited to tertiary and graduate education, while the Department of Education’s mandate covers basic education.

Fact-checked: Rappler has debunked false claims on various scholarship and programs and educational assistance supposedly offered by various government offices:

– Ailla Dela Cruz/ Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.

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