Section 3. Definition of Terms. – As used in this Act:

1. Distance education refers to a mode of learning in which students and teachers are physically separated from each other. It is student-centered, guided independent study, making use of well-studied teaching and learning pedagogies to deliver well-designed learning materials in various media. It is also sometimes described as flexible learning and distributed learning;

2. Higher education refers to the higher learning level after high school offering baccalaureate, graduate or post-graduate programs;

3. Higher education degree programs refer to specific courses of study in the higher level of the education system leading to a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree;

4. Higher education institution (HEI) refers to an institution of higher learning which primarily offers degree-granting programs duly recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and leading to the conferment of a diploma;

5. Open Distance Learning (ODL) refers to the merger of two (2) concepts, that of open learning and distance education. It is a system which combines the methodology of distance education with the concepts of open learning and flexible learning;

6. Open learning refers to a philosophy of learning that is based on flexibility of access for equity in education, an educational system accessible to every individual with minimal restrictions and emphasizing the flexibility of the system to eradicate problems caused by barriers like age, geographical location, time constraints and economic situation;

7. Open university/college/institution refers to a degree-granting HEI recognized by the CHED which has at least a Level III accreditation in the programs offered in the conventional classroom or traditional mode and which employs operational procedures and strategies of an open learning institution;

8. Post-secondary school refers to an institution that offers nondegree technical-vocational programs accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA);

9. Technical-vocational programs refer to post-secondary certificate courses, officially recognized as nondegree programs aimed at preparing technicians, paraprofessionals and other categories of middle-level workers by providing them with a broad range of general education, theoretical, scientific and technological studies, and related job skills training; and

10. Tertiary education refers to higher education degree programs, as well as post-secondary technical-vocational programs.