The EEAS aims to democratize access to UP education by correcting the "inequities in the geographic and socioeconomic distribution among the student population in UP".

It was discovered in studies conducted by the university that the male-female ratio among those who qualify for the UPCAT is 35:65. This despite the 50:50 male-female ratio in the country. 41% also come from the National Capital Region (NCR), despite the fact that only 15% of high school graduates hail from here. Finally, although 60% of high school graduates come from public schools, only 33% of UP students are products of this system.

Under the EEAS, applicants from vocational or barangay high schools will be given an extra 0.05 allowance in their university predicted grade or UPG which determines if they qualify to study in UP. For example a student who got a UPG of 2.75 will instead be given a grade of 2.7.

To improve the geographic distribution of qualifiers, all 77 provinces will be given a quota equivalent to the percent of the national high school population (NHSP) that it has. If a province has 2% of the NHSP, and UP will accept only 12, 000 freshmen, that province's quota will be 240. This will supposedly increase his or her chances of getting accepted into UP.

In cases when a province is not able to fill their quotas, the vacant slots are given to other provinces by considering the highest scores of the rest of the applicants.

Another component of the EEAS is the setting of a lower UPG cutoff for each autonomous campus. Studies reveal that this will not necessarily affect the academic performance of an accepted applicant. After all, the UPG only predicts the performance of an applicant for his or her first year in the university.

Office of Admissions Director Dr. Elizabeth Ventura said there was no decrease in the number of freshmen this year contrary to popular notion. Still, only 10,586 out of the 67,528 or a measly 16% of those who took the UPCAT passed. However, Ventura says the number is well within the range of the number of students who qualify each year.

The College of Engineering once more gets the lion's share for the academic year 1998-1999. CE will have 964 youngbloods this year, led by the Chemical Engineering Department with 189 youngbloods qualifying for that course. This is in line with the University's plan to prioritize science and engineering courses as part of its thrust towards "global competitiveness." The colleges of Science (CS) and the Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) will also have to make room for new students, with 426 and 390 freshmen respectively.