Students’ Awareness and Knowledge of Guidance and Counseling Services at Medina College: Basis for Program Enhancement

Guidance and counseling services play an important role in promoting students’ academic success, emotional well-being, and personal development, especially in higher education institutions. Despite their significance, students awareness knowledge, and actual use of these services frequently differ from one another. During the 2025–2026 academic year, this study evaluated Medina College students awareness and knowledge of guidance and counseling services. It specifically looked at students awareness and knowledge of counseling, appraisal, follow-up, and referral services and ascertained whether there were any notable variations when respondents were categorized based on demographics. For this study, a quantitative descriptive-comparative research design was used. A questionnaire created by the researcher was utilized to gather data from 315 college students. The results were verified through pilot testing yielding a reliability coefficient of 0.87. The collected data was examined using frequency percentage weighted mean t-test and ANOVA. The results showed a very high degree of awareness of the guidance and counseling services provided by the institution, especially with regard to counseling, appraisal, follow-up, and referral services. Additionally, the respondents demonstrated superior knowledge of the purposes and importance of these services. The findings further indicated that institutional information dissemination and student support systems contributed positively to students’ knowledge of the guidance program.  Nonetheless,  a concerning subset of students demonstrated limited knowledge and partial understanding of these services. The study concluded that students have a high level of awareness and knowledge of Medina Colleges guidance and counseling services. Based on the findings, a guidance and counseling program enhancement plan was proposed to further improve service accessibility, student participation, and the overall effectiveness of the institution’s support services.