IN THE heart of Dumaguete, where the gentle scent of the sea meets the academic hum of a “University Town,” stands an institution that feels more like a living laboratory than a traditional school. For more than seven decades, Foundation University, a non-stock and non-profit private academic institution in Dumaguete City, has established deep ties within the community by producing generation after generation of Filipinos who have contributed to society as professionals, leaders, and innovators.
The institution’s enduring identity is rooted in the vision of Dr. Vicente G. Sinco, a renowned expert in constitutional law whose fingerprints are all over the nation’s legal bedrock. Dr. Sinco served as an advisor to four Philippine presidents—including Sergio Osmeña, Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, and Carlos Garcia—providing them with advice on education and constitutional law, among others. Sinco represented the Philippines as a signatory of the 1945 United Nations Charter, standing on the world stage as a newborn nation found its voice. He also served as the eighth president of the University of the Philippines from 1958 to 1962 and was remembered for introducing the general education program and revising the University Code.
He was, above all, a deeply patriotic educator with an unwavering faith in the potential of the Filipino people.
Building the foundation
Rather than pursue a full-time legal career or a government position, he chose to build the foundation for young Filipinos to achieve their dreams and make quality education accessible, even for those who have limited means. What he wanted was a uniquely Filipino institution, one that could unlock the Filipinos’ potential to become movers and shakers of the world.
He realized his vision of a uniquely Filipino university by instituting Foundation College in Dumaguete City in 1949. The college, then occupying a single building, came from Sinco’s fierce patriotism, made stronger after witnessing the atrocities committed against fellow Filipinos during the Second World War.
Today, current University President and third-generation leader Victor Vicente “Dean” Sinco continues to share his grandfather’s vision of making quality education accessible to Filipinos in the provinces – a vision anchored on bringing Foundation University into the digital age.
“After the war, my grandfather believed that Filipinos have the capability of being self-sufficient and able to rebuild when given the opportunity. I believe that the opportunity we offer here in the university is in line with what my grandfather would have wanted, but we’re also preparing our students to address the needs of the world,” the third-generation Sinco explained.
Foundation University today
From a college offering a handful of practical programs, Foundation University has also been successful in integrating technology into its curriculum. As Dumaguete City’s “Silicon Grove,” the university is now poised to be a technological hub where the next generation of innovators is trained and cultivated. This, as Dean Sinco explained, is true to the elder Sinco’s core beliefs of fostering freedom of thought, critical thinking, self-reflection, and innovation in education.
Beyond these innovations, today’s Foundation University continues to instill its founder’s belief of developing its students’ character through its Technology, Environment, and Entrepreneurship (TEE) course, a required elective throughout all programs. “The improvement of educational standards and the test of sound educational performance inevitably involve the development of discipline and character,” as the elder Sinco once said.
Dr. Sinco previously likened private institutions in the provinces to England’s “Red Brick” universities and urged them to maintain high scholastic standards instead of lowering them due to their geographical remoteness. This commitment to excellence continues to be apparent in today’s Foundation University, now led by his grandson.
“My grandfather would be proud not only of what the university has become or the immense potential of its students, but also of the mental aptitude of our administration and teaching staff. All of us share the understanding that the work we do is not to gain status or wealth, but to help the Filipino youth as they become active participants in the country’s progress,” Sinco said.
Foundation University offers a wide range of programs and course offerings, from Basic Education to Undergraduate, Graduate, and Postgraduate Programs. Visit https://www.foundationu.edu.ph/ and follow Foundation University on Facebook to learn more about its programs and enrollment schedules.
