MALACAÑAN, Manila — With the expanded tertiary education bill finally signed into law by President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., working professionals with over five years of experience will now be able to complete their college education and advance their careers without going through traditional schooling methods.

President Marcos signed Republic Act 12124, or the expanded tertiary education equivalency and accreditation program (ETEEAP), to help qualified professionals to be granted academic degrees following an assessment of their skills, knowledge and levels of competence.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has been designated as the lead agency in implementing the ETEEAP and will be tasked with deputizing higher education institutions with academic degrees to be opened for the ETEEAP.

The agency will also develop standards for a diversified mode of assessing applicants, as well as grant or revoke schools’ authority to implement the program. Applicants must have over five years of aggregate work experience in the industry related to the academic degree program where equivalency of learning is sought.