The Supreme Court has affirmed that it is the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), not the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (now Department of Education), which has the power of supervision and review over disciplinary cases decided by institutions of higher learning.
  
In a 30-page decision penned by Justice Ruben T. Reyes, the SC’s Third Division denied a petition filed by De La Salle University (DLSU), et al. assailing, among others, a CHED resolution lowering the penalty of expulsion on students belonging to fraternity found guilty by the joint DLSU and College of St. Benilde Discipline Board of directly assaulting their fellow students, from expulsion to exclusion only.

The Court explained that under RA 7722, An Act Creating the Commission on Higher Education, Appropriating Funds Thereof and for other purposes, DECS’ previous power of review over expulsion cases involving institutions of higher learning was explicitly granted to CHED. Agreeing with the CHED’s finding that the penalty of expulsion is grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the acts committed by the students involved, the Court pointed out that DLSU, as a private educational institution offering tertiary degree programs, is under CHED authority and must thus issue the students’ transfer credentials and/or certificate of graduation/completion in accordance with the assailed Resolution 181-96, dated May 14, 1996.  (GR No. 127980, DLSU v. CA, December 19, 2007)