From the new academic year, foreign students will pay for studying in Germany
As reported by Deutsche Welle, starting from the winter semester of the 2017/2018 academic year, foreign students will have to pay 1,500 euros per semester for their first higher education degree. A second higher education degree will cost 650 euros per semester – for both foreign and German students.
Currently, about 20,000 foreign students are studying at universities in Baden-Württemberg. The largest groups are students from China, Turkey, and India. Russians rank fourth, Ukrainians seventh. The most popular universities among students from Russia and Ukraine are the universities of Heidelberg, Tübingen, Freiburg, Stuttgart, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
Those who have already started their studies will be able to obtain their degree for free. These students will continue to pay only the minimum semester fee, like all other German students. The victims of the new reform will be first-year foreign students who will attend classes from October 2017. Students participating in academic exchange programs are not included in this category. Nor are non-EU foreigners who obtained their high school diploma in Germany, and refugees with a level of knowledge meeting the requirements for admission to German universities.
An exception is also planned for students from emerging economies: up to 500 study places per year will be free. Applications for exemption from tuition fees will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Tuition fees for foreigners have been introduced following the example of Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Austria. The idea belongs to Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Education and Science, Theresia Bauer. In this way, the politician from the Greens hopes to replenish the budget. Part of the funds will be spent on improving the quality of education and expanding the number of support programs for foreign students.
The government announced its plans in October 2016. After that, the essence of the bill was explained on a special ministry website, and users could share their opinions – mostly critical. "This bill is counterproductive. It creates an obstacle for people seeking to acquire new knowledge," could be read there. "Access to education should be for all people, regardless of how much money they have and which country they come from," was another opinion expressed.
However, the discussion went beyond the online forum. Critics of the reform are driven not only by a sense of justice. The fact that the proposal came from the Greens added fuel to the fire. In the program of this party, which together with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) forms the ruling coalition in Baden-Württemberg, the absence of tuition fees is one of the central tenets. Therefore, some consider the state government's decision a breach of taboo, fearing that higher education could be made paid for everyone again.
Until now, charging tuition fees from foreigners was only allowed in Saxony, but only the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre (HMT) made use of this right. In addition to the semester fee of 193.50 euros that everyone pays, foreigners are charged 1,800 euros per semester for tuition.
The decision of Baden-Württemberg worries students and university staff in other federal states. After all, their governments might now also consider this way of replenishing the budget. In Baden-Württemberg, 80 percent of the fee amount will go to the state treasury, 20 percent to the universities themselves. "Of the 1,500 euros per semester, universities will receive only 300 euros to support foreign students. One cannot talk about improving learning conditions. Tuition fees for non-EU foreigners contradict the goal of internationalizing education," criticizes the German National Association for Student Affairs (Deutsches Studentenwerk).
The students themselves also actively expressed their dissatisfaction. Protest actions took place in Freiburg, Heidelberg, and Stuttgart. 15,000 signatures under an online petition on the Change.org portal. But this did not stop the politicians. Perhaps statistics will make them reconsider their decision in the future: critics of the reform point out that already in this summer semester, after the announcement of the minister's intentions, the number of foreign applicants decreased by 43 percent.