For several years now, the threat of introducing fee-paying higher education has been hanging over Germany. Recently, this idea has taken on concrete shape. According to polls, 67% of Germans support the introduction of a mandatory contribution of 500 euros per semester. This part of the population refers to the fact that sooner or later, after finding a job, a graduate will earn enough to cover the costs of their studies. In contrast, other voices are also heard. In particular, doubts are raised about the effectiveness of controlling where and for what budgetary funds for education will be spent. It is currently assumed that the contributions will flow into the budgets of the universities themselves and will decisively improve the entire educational process. However, many doubt that the state will not want to use the new revenues to plug other budget holes. If the introduction of tuition fees is unavoidable, everyone agrees on one thing: a system of financing higher education through loans for the entire period of study needs to be developed urgently.
“German universities must learn to take on greater responsibility, and it begins when the need arises to handle financial capital properly. With the introduction of fee-based education, teaching staff will have an incentive to improve the quality of instruction, and students will be motivated not to linger within the university's walls,” said Ludwig Georg Braun, head of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce.
Michael Rogowski, President of the Federation of German Industries, also supported the idea: “Fee-based education has a number of advantages. It will create competition among universities. And students who pay for their own studies will be able to insist on the practical orientation of their education.”
“Along with the introduction of tuition fees, it is necessary to award far more scholarships so that only a student's knowledge, not their parents' wallet, decides who has the right to higher education,” said Braun.
During the 2003-2004 academic year, a wave of student protest strikes swept across Germany, through which students sought to defend the right to free higher education. Thousands of German students were joined by foreign students, many of whom believe that with the introduction of fee-based education, they will have to bid farewell to their dream of obtaining a degree on German soil. Many fear that the university fee will establish American conditions in Germany, in which the gap in the quality of education is determined to a greater extent by students' financial capabilities.
Michael Siebel, the education policy expert of the Social Democratic Party in the federal state of Hesse, proposed the introduction of an education tax in a conversation with representatives of the DPA agency: “The introduction of an individual annual fee from students alone will not solve the problem of local university financing. Instead, we need to introduce an education tax. What kind of tax this will be is currently under discussion.”
Federal Minister of Education and Research Edelgard Bulmahn also said “no” to the introduction of fee-based education: “The right to a first free education must remain our cultural achievement.”