Section 15. Powers and Functions of the Board.— The Board shall exercise the following powers and functions:

1. Formulate and approve policies and strategies for UniFAST, and review existing policies to ensure consistency with policy framework under this Act;

2. Coordinate with the implementing agencies of existing StuFAPs in the formulation, approval and issuance of guidelines towards the development and promotion of the UniFAST;

3. Provide necessary support to implementing agencies, technical or otherwise, to ensure the effective implementation of this Act;

4. Prepare, approve, and submit to the CHED its own budget proposal, in addition to the individual budget proposals prepared by the various implementing agencies, including vetting, modifying and integrating all requests for public funding of Tertiary Education StuFAPs;

5. Promulgate the minimum guidelines, rules and regulations for determining qualified Beneficiaries of student financial assistance for Tertiary Education;

6. Provide general guidelines for the drawing up of contracts with the student Beneficiaries specifying the rights and obligations of the parties that may include a service clause or such other stipulations of cost recovery the Board may deem in the best interest of the public and consistent with, or responsive to, national, social, economic, and human resources development plans, subject to Section 12;

7. Monitor, assess and make impact evaluation of StuFAPs and projects, with the end in view of determining whether these programs shall be adopted, continued, or terminated;

8. Adopt a Qualifying Examination System for Scoring Students for merit and talent-based StuFAPs and determine the eligibility for Grants-in-Aid and other modalities of StuFAPs;

9. Provide and promote a supportive policy environment for the growth and development of private sector participation for Scholarships, Grants-in-Aid, Student Loans or other modalities of StuFAP;

10. Establish and maintain, on the public websites of the CHED and TESDA, a database containing information on StuFAPs and accredited public and private Tertiary Education programs and institutions;

11. Take all necessary actions to disseminate information on the database established and maintained under this Act in order to encourage its use by interested parties and to ensure that Beneficiaries are able to maximize the benefits from UniFAST through informed decision-making, allowing them freedom of choice among accredited public and private Tertiary Education programs and institutions;

12. Design a program of generating funds for the UniFAST;

13. Facilitate and tap donations, legacies, gifts and other forms of contribution, whether in cash or in kind, from both public and private sources and to tap the services and assistance of experts, in accordance with Section 20: Provided, That such donations, legacies, and contributions of cash or property duly received shall be exempt from donor’s tax and shall be allowable deductions for income tax purposes in accordance with Section 34-H of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended;

14. Appoint members of the UniFAST Secretariat upon the recommendation of the Executive Director;

15. Appoint one (1) or more legal officers with authority to file cases in court;

16. Set up, maintain and update an official registry of quality-assured academic and research programs and Tertiary Education institutions in accordance with Section 3 of this Act;

17. Approve the appropriate honorarium and per diem for the members of the Board, in accordance with the relevant government rules and regulations;

18. Develop an efficient tracking system of Student-Borrowers, as well as a system of disbursement and collection of payments of loans granted under this Act, including entering into agreements with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), GSIS, SSS, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), Credit Information Corporation (CIC), private and public banks and banking intermediaries, credit information bureaus, and other government financial institutions, inclusive of investigating and checking the whereabouts of delinquent Student-Borrowers, and setting up mechanisms for blacklisting of defaulting Student-Borrowers in application for loans, credit cards, and other credit facilities; and

19. Perform such other powers and functions as may be deemed necessary and incidental for the effective implementation of this Act.