Students are required to submit their entrance credentials to be officially admitted to the University. Students with incomplete entrance credentials will be given provisional admission to the University for only up to one (1) year. Provisional admission may be extended beyond one (1) year on a case-to-case basis especially for reasons that are beyond the control of the student. The student shall provide proof that they are processing their entrance credentials from their previous school. [OVPAA Memorandum No. 2023-55 dated 27 April 2023]

Every applicant for admission shall undergo a thorough health examination. No person shall be admitted to this University who is found by the University Health Service (UHS) to be suffering from a dangerous, communicable, contagious, or infectious disease or who is physically unfit to take courses in any college or school of the University. [Art. 328, UP Code 1961]

Every student shall, upon admission, sign the following pledge:

“In consideration of my admission to the University of the Philippines and of the privileges of a student in this institution, I hereby promise and pledge to abide by and comply with all the rules and regulations laid down by competent authority in the University and in the college in which I am enrolled.”

Refusal to take this pledge or violation of its terms shall be sufficient cause for summary dismissal or denial of admission. [Art. 329, UP Code 1961]

The UPCAT is conducted yearly and serves as a screening instrument for prospective new first-year students. It should only be taken once. Applying for this entrance exam does not require a minimum high school average grade.

Applicants must be:

1. Senior students (e.g., Grade 12, Senior 6) of schools accredited by the Department of Education (DepEd) or those who are expecting to graduate from secondary schools abroad at the end of the school year;
2. Graduates of DepEd-accredited schools or secondary schools abroad; or
3. Those declared eligible for admission to college after taking the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT). Applicants who fall under b and c should not have taken any college subject(s) previously, not be taking any college subject(s) at present, and not be taking any college subject(s) prior to or for the semester/academic year of their scheduled UPCAT. Applicants must have not taken the UPCAT previously.

Each CU offers limited slots for this program. Only Filipino students in the Top Ten of their graduating class in public high schools are eligible to apply. They must:

1. obtain a UP grade better than or equal to the designated minimum for an applicant to qualify for the UP campus where they will file an INB application which must be in the same region as their high school (except for UP Open University); and
2. comply with all the requirements of the degree program they have indicated in their INB application form offered by such UP campus.

Applicants who graduated or are graduating from a secondary school abroad, including Filipino students from Philippine high schools in the Middle East, may be admitted as first-year students by automatic admission, provided that they:

1. Have not enrolled in any other tertiary institution before the start of the school year; and
2. Meet other admission requirements, such as:
   1. Completion of a high school program or a one- or two-year pre-university education in a country where such is a prerequisite for admission to a bachelor's degree program
   2. Qualifications for college admission by any of the following national or international foreign-administered examinations:
      • SAT (scores must not have been taken more than 4 years before application)
      • General Certificate of Education (GCE) Examination
        • 2 ordinary (O) level passes/General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)/International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), and
        • 3 advanced (A) level passes
      • International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma
      • Other equivalent examinations approved by UP
   3. Applicants, whose native language or medium of instruction in the secondary school is not English, need a minimum score (500 if paper based or 173 if computer based) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) set varyingly across CUs.

Students from foreign countries must substantially meet the entrance requirements prescribed for a course or degree program, provided that their previous training was obtained from an institution of recognized standing and that their chosen college or school has a slot for them.

Graduates of high schools abroad who fail to satisfy the requirements for automatic admission may take the UPCAT.

Filipino graduates from secondary schools abroad must comply with the same requirements as those for foreign students.

Students from other universities (T2) may apply for transfer to a CU, provided that:

1. They have earned 33 academic units in their former school
2. They have obtained a weighted average of 2.00, 86%, or “B”, or better for all the collegiate academic units earned outside of the UP System. The computation of the general weighted average (GWA) required of transfer students shall exclude vocational subjects.
3. They will have to complete in the University no less than 50% of the units required for their program.

T2 students may be admitted if the quota set by the Dean of the college/school concerned to which they seek admission has not yet been filled up. If there is a gap in enrollment, a non-enrollment certificate/affidavit must be submitted by the student.

Non-degree students may be allowed to take graduate or undergraduate courses for credit only if they satisfy the appropriate requirements for admission to the University.

Special students, even if they do not fully satisfy the entrance requirements, may enroll for such subjects which in the opinion of the instructor and the Dean, they have the necessary information and ability to pursue profitably. They shall not be allowed to enroll for more than nine (9) units a semester or to register for more than two (2) years, except by special permission of the Dean. Subjects taken shall be non-credit although their work may be reported at the end of each semester as "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory”. [682nd EC Meeting, 20 March 1978]

A student registered in another collegiate institution and who wishes to cross-register in UP must present a written permit from the Dean, Director, or Registrar of the home and the accepting units/colleges. The permit shall state the total number of units for which the student may be registered and the subjects that the student is authorized to take in the University. [Arts. 333-334, UP Code 1961] The total number of units of credit for which a student may register in two or more colleges or schools in this University shall not exceed the maximum allowed by the rules on academic load. [Art. 335, UP Code 1961]