Due to the introduction of fees, German universities are losing hundreds of international students
The issue of introducing semester tuition fees at German universities was not raised from the late 1960s until the 1990s. It was only in the last decade of the 20th century, when the influx of students increased sharply and university budgets began to dwindle, that politicians at the Ministry of Education decided to reintroduce the system of paid education.
In 2005, the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe lifted the ban on tuition fees, and starting in 2006, many universities in western Germany gradually began to require students to pay for their studies. Today, tuition fees are charged in 6 of the 16 federal states: Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Saarland, and North Rhine-Westphalia. In some states (especially in eastern Germany), the final decision on fees has not yet been made. And, for example, in the state of Hesse, fees were introduced for one academic year and then abolished again.
Despite the long history of this topic, discussions about the advisability of introducing tuition fees in Germany do not subside. In 2008, mass student protests took place in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg and in Freiburg. A year earlier in Munich, students suffered a fiasco: only 163 people attended the demonstration. In 2009, experts expect new protests in various German cities.
However, it should be noted that not every school graduate in Germany goes to a higher education institution. Many limit themselves to a technical school or complete special courses and get a job. Accordingly, the issue of introducing tuition fees does not particularly affect applicants who are determined to study at a university. As studies show, for 90% of first-year students, the introduction of tuition fees did not significantly affect their decision to enroll.
It is a different matter for international students. Life in Germany is not cheap anyway, and the €500-650 that must be paid to the university per semester is by no means superfluous for them. For example, studies by the German organization Hochschulinformationssystem (HIS) show that due to the introduction of fees at the University of Dortmund, the university loses about 200 international students each year.
However, even among international students themselves, opinions on semester tuition fees differ. Olga Dmitrieva from Ruhr University Bochum pays €490 per semester, plus mandatory fees for university administrative expenses - €260. However, she has no doubt about the positive return on her investment in education.
"In addition to traditional lectures, seminars, and colloquia taught by professors, tutorials have been added to the schedule where senior students act as lecturers," she says. According to Olga, attending these sessions helps better prepare for exams and get a higher grade on tests.
True, not everyone is ready to acknowledge the benefits of paid education. A student from Marburg, Evgeny Antipov, believes that this reform of the German education system has not brought significant changes. "After all, a teacher is not going to change their entire curriculum and teaching methodology just because they get a small salary increase," says the student, who studies in the state of Hesse, where tuition fees were abolished a year after their introduction.
Nevertheless, Evgeny acknowledges that paid education can be more effective than free education. In addition to university, he attends a private review course - a Repetitorium - to prepare for his final exam, paying about €150 per month. "The teaching there is on a completely different level," says the student, "it is primarily focused on results, that is, on successfully passing the exam."
A master's student from Marburg, Elena Bartashevich, also speaks out against paid education. According to her, with tuition fees, many students simply cannot afford to study in Germany, or are forced to work a lot, which negatively affects their academic performance.
And although the issue of introducing fees is still being discussed in various German states, there are certain categories of students for whom the introduction of fees has long been settled. Moreover, even in those states where the decision on semester fees has not yet been finalized. These categories include, first, students who delay taking their final exams, that is, they study for several semesters longer than the standard period. For them, tuition fees average €500 per semester.
Just as in Russia, second and additional higher education in Germany is paid. You will have to fork out between €500 and €650. And for a master's degree, you will most likely also have to pay. The cost of a master's program ranges from €650 to several thousand euros.
Information about whether you will have to pay for your chosen major should be sought on the university's website, or better yet, on the page of the chosen subject. Since even in those universities where education is still free, there may be individual paid programs. As a rule, these are economics, computer science, and law.
There are also a number of cases in which a student may be exempted from tuition fees, for example, if they are raising a small child or have a disability. Scholarship holders of various foundations and organizations, such as DAAD, as well as students coming under inter-university exchange programs, are also exempt from fees.
Tatiana GOGOLKINA.
Deutsche Welle