W E L C O M E

Coron is an island municipality located at the Northern part of Palawan. Being the center of trade, it is therefore a melting pot in Calamianes Group of Islands because of its accessibility by land, sea and air transportation. Due to its strategic location and pleasant atmosphere, the municipality of Coron could very well serve as a catchments area for college education.

It is a common interest of the people of Coron, Busuanga, Linapacan and Culion to send their children to distant place like Puerto Princesa, Batangas or Manila, just to obtain a most coveted college degree. However, due to financial constraints, it is estimated that only 20% of the high school graduates were able to pursue higher education, while 80% were forced to stop schooling and remain idle.

It has been a vision of the people of Calamianes Group of Islands that an institution for higher education be established in Coron.

Based on this context, negotiations between the Municipal government of Coron and the Administration of the Palawan State University started as early as year 1992 regarding the possibility of establishing a branch of the University in Coron to be known as PSU-ESC, Coron. Negotiations, however, failed due to lack of commitment, on the part of the Municipalities of Linapacan, Busuanga, and Culion to shoulder part of the operational expenses of the proposed Center. Not only sometime in year 1994 that the Mayor of Corn, Hon. Alberto G. Enriquez Jr. signified his intention to establish the Extramural Studies Center, Coron (then a college) but he pursued eagerly until it was formally established in June 1994. The Center is a joint PSU-Municipal Government, thru its local officials, and parents, represented by Parent-Teachers Council, community endeavor to provide educational opportunities not only to the people of Coron but the whole Calamianes Islands. It serves as an extension for tertiary education and technology transfer in the countryside and seeks to democratize education to reach the grassroots level.

During its first year of operation, the Center operates based on the Memorandum of Agreement between the PSU Administration and the Municipal Government of Coron which provides the following among other things:

1. The Palawan State University shall provide the Administration and supervision of the center, and to take care of the recruitment of qualified instructors.

2. The Municipality of Coron will provide the school site, school plan including classroom furniture, textbooks, materials and equipment and to allocate an amount of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P 500,000.00) per annum for salaries of instructors and staff until the National Government thru Congress and the DBM be able to provide funds for the same.

Since the Municipal Government of Coron has no budget for the construction of school building for PSU, it therefore entered into a MOA with Coron School of Fisheries, thru Mr. Ricardo Manuel, CSF Administrator, that the latter will allow PSU to use some of their classroom and other facilities at the time its own students are already off sessions. This arrangement will continue until such time the PSU can obtain necessary fund for the building, or the municipal government can provide the same.

During the First Semester of the School year 1998 – 1999, the Center moved to its new location at the former Police Constabulary Barracks at Barangay 1, Coron, Palawan. After four years, it transferred to its permanent campus situated along the National Highway, Sitio Dipulao, Barangay 6, Coron, Palawan. Its presence at the new site was then a burden to both the faculty and students because the highway was not cemented by the time and the campus site, a former rice field was still a place of grasses and weeds. Over the years, through the joint endeavor of the administration and the students, together with the PTC, it was transformed into a school conducive to learning and studies.

The PSU Coron Campus started with 111 students offering three courses namely: Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science (1994-1998), Bachelor of Elementary Education and Bachelor of Secondary Education. In the year 1996, the Bachelor of Entrepreneurship program was offered as an additional course in the campus until 2013. It was followed after 2002 where Civil Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology and Mechanical Engineering Technology was added in the program offerings that only lasts for a year. By 2010, the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration was added among program offerings in the campus. After two years, the Bachelor of Science in Criminology program was offered to date with program compliance (COPC) from the Commission on Higher Education though other programs offered are still in the process of compliance.

To date, the following programs are still offered in the campus namely:

· Bachelor of Science in Criminology

· Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management

· Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management

· Bachelor of Elementary Education

· Bachelor of Secondary Education majors in English and Social Studies

· Bachelor of Science in Business Administration majors in Financial Management and Marketing Management

However, due to oversupply of graduates, the Bachelor of Secondary Education major in MAPEH was temporarily frozen by 2018. With the expansion of its curricular offering, the population of PSU Coron grew dramatically and it is now considered as one of the biggest external campuses in North Palawan in terms of population though at present, the drop-in enrolment is attributable to the introduction of the K-12 Program of the Department of Education.

In the exigency of service, the following people made its way in developing the PSU Coron campus and served as administrators with the help of LGU Officials and the Parents-Teachers Council namely:

· Dr. Ricardo A. Tajolosa (1994 – 1995)

· Mr. Jeremiah S. Bacones (1996 – 1998)

· Mr. Edmundo Elijan (2000 – 2004)

· Mr. Fernando M. Cruz (2004 – 2007)

· Prof. Arnold Marie Calbentos (2007 – 2011)

· Atty. Albert C. Garraez (2011 – 2018)

· Mr. Fernando M. Cruz (August 2018 – June 18, 2019)

· Dr. Raymond P. Rey (June 19, 2019 - June 25, 2021)

   · Ms. Vinamar D. Odasco (June 26, 2021 to Present)