Far Eastern University (FEU) Admission Guide

FEU at a glance: 1928, Sampaloc, and a heritage campus

Far Eastern University was founded in 1928 by Nicanor Reyes Sr. and attained university status in 1934. Its main campus sits in Sampaloc, in Manila's university belt, and FEU describes itself as a nonsectarian private university — a neutral administrative fact about how the institution is organised.

What sets the campus apart is architectural rather than academic. Six of its buildings were declared National Cultural Treasures by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and in 2005 FEU received a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Honorable Mention Heritage Award recognising its conservation of the largest surviving ensemble of Art Deco architecture in Manila. For a student choosing between Manila campuses, that is a genuine difference in daily environment.

What FEU actually teaches

FEU's admissions pages organise the university into institutes rather than colleges. Those currently listed include Accounts, Business and Finance; Arts and Sciences; Architecture and Fine Arts; Education; Health Sciences and Nursing; Tourism and Hotel Management; and Law, alongside FEU Makati.

Note what is not on that list: medicine (see the next section). Other schools in the wider FEU group admit through their own channels. Institute names, programmes and prerequisites are revised over time — confirm the current list and your programme's requirements on FEU's official admissions site before shortlisting.

Applying: the FEUCAT and your documents

FEU's undergraduate route runs through its own admission test, the FEU College Admission Test (FEUCAT), together with your academic credentials and, where required, evidence of English proficiency. Applications are made through FEU's online admissions portal.

International applicants generally also submit authenticated or apostilled academic records with English translations where needed, plus a passport copy and supporting documents. Which test applies to your level and programme, and the exact document set, are set by the university and change between cycles — verify on the official admissions pages before you apply.

Important: FEU and FEU–NRMF are different institutions

This is the single most common point of confusion about FEU, and it matters if medicine is your goal. Far Eastern University in Sampaloc does not itself run a medical school.

The medical school that carries the name — the Far Eastern University – Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation (FEU–NRMF) — began as FEU's Institute of Medicine but was converted into a separate non-stock, non-profit educational foundation in 1970, with its own Board of Trustees, and has been based in Fairview, Quezon City since 1999. It is a different legal entity, in a different city, with its own admissions.

So an offer, a fee schedule or an agent's brochure referring to "FEU medicine" is not an offer from Far Eastern University in Sampaloc. Check which institution you are actually dealing with, on that institution's own official site, before you pay anything.

If you are an Indian student thinking about medicine

For an Indian student, the decisive rules are on the India side, not the Philippine side. Eligibility to pursue medicine abroad and to later practise in India is governed by NEET, by the National Medical Commission (NMC), and by the screening examination (FMGE, transitioning to NExT) conducted by NBEMS. Defer every one of these to the official Indian sources — nmc.org.in, neet.nta.nic.in and natboard.edu.in — and verify the current rules before you commit money or time.

The Philippine side has its own gate as well: admission to a Philippine medical school requires the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT), and foreign applicants must obtain a Certificate of Eligibility for a medical programme from CHED's Office of Student Services. CHED's own guidance is explicit that this certificate does not guarantee admission.

No university, agent or website can guarantee you a seat, recognition, a licence, or that you will pass any screening exam. Treat any "guaranteed seat", "guaranteed licence" or "no NEET needed" offer as a scam, and verify it against the official sources above.

Recognition, student visa and next steps

Before enrolling, confirm that FEU and your specific programme are recognised by checking the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and FEU's official pages. Foreign nationals studying a degree in the Philippines generally hold a 9(f) student visa, processed through the Bureau of Immigration and Philippine consular channels after admission. This is general information, not immigration advice — verify the current process on the official Philippine government sources.

Tuition and deadlines are set by FEU and revised each cycle; no figures are quoted here — check the official website. As next steps: confirm which institution your intended programme actually sits in, and if medicine is the goal, settle the India-side NEET/NMC/FMGE–NExT questions first, because they decide whether the rest is worth pursuing.