Polytechnic University of the Philippines
state university in the Philippines
The Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP; Filipino: Politeknikong Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a public research university in the Philippines with a main campus in Santa Mesa, Manila. It was founded on 19 October 1904, as the Manila Business School (MBS) and as part of Manila's public school system. It was eventually promoted to a chartered state university in 1978, by virtue of Presidential Decree 1341. PUP has more than 20 campuses (2 newly approved campuses in NCR and Visayas) across Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and Metro Manila. With over 80,000 enrolled students in all campuses, PUP claims to be the largest state university in the Philippines by student population.
The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017 mandates free tuition and fees for all students of state universities and colleges. Before the act was enforced, tuition was exactly ₱12 (roughly 24 US cents) per unit (since 1979) for undergraduate students. Students may opt out of the subsidy and choose to pay the full tuition instead. PUP has a reputation for student activism against tuition fee hikes.
History
PUP traces its roots from the Manila Business School, which was founded by the Civil Government of the Philippines and was established on October 19, 1904.
The public source identifies “Polytechnic University of the Philippines” as state university in the Philippines. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Polytechnic, University and Philippines.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q536171. Authority coordinates are 14.597, 121.011. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1904, 1978, 1341 and 2017.
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This entry incorporates text from “Polytechnic University of the Philippines” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.