Committee to study tuition fees for foreign students in Finland
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Minister of Education Tuula Haatainen (SDP) promised on Wednesday to set up a committee to study the possibility of introducing tuition fees for foreign students who come to study in Finland from outside the EU and EEA countries. Haatainen estimated that it will take the committee at least six months to investigate the matter.
Only as recently as three weeks ago Minister Haatainen denied that any such plans existed and referred to the Government Programme that indicates that tuition at the university level is to be free for all students that have been enrolled in a programme leading to a degree.
"The circumstances have changed", Haatainen is saying now. By this she refers to the international development. For example, in the other Nordic countries as well as in Germany, plans are already afoot to launch tuition fees for international students.
"There is also certain pressure from the universities as to the financing of the studies of the increasing number of foreign students in Finland."
Another issue to be studied, according to Haatainen, is the scholarship system.
Rector Gustav Björkstrand of Åbo Akademi regards Haatainen's announcement as a good opening. He is also the head of the Finnish Council of University Rectors, and even if some rectors are against fees, he considers it worthwhile to investigate the matter.
"If all other European countries are to introduce such fees, I cannot understand how Finland alone could refrain from launching them. In terms of money, they cannot be very important", Björkstand argues.
Rector Yrjö Sotamaa of the University of Art and Design in Helsinki feels that Finnish universities should be able to sell their tuition to those foreigners who are willing to come and study here.
The MA degree programmes of the University of Art and Design seem to appeal to foreign students more and more. For example last spring, applications were received from 45 countries, most of them coming from China, the USA, and Japan.
According to Sotamaa, students could be charged fees according to their ability to pay. Moreover, financial support might be available also from foreign governments and companies.
On the other hand, it is the quality of education that counts, not the fact that no fees are required in Finland, says Sotamaa.
The number of foreign university students in Finland has almost doubled in the course of the last decade. In 2003, there were 4,427 foreign students, the majority of them (2,641) being from Europe, while the share of Asian students in particular (1,200) has been growing.
Last autumn, the number of applicants who were not Finnish citizens was 3,738, while only 819 of them enrolled as students.
Only as recently as three weeks ago Minister Haatainen denied that any such plans existed and referred to the Government Programme that indicates that tuition at the university level is to be free for all students that have been enrolled in a programme leading to a degree.
"The circumstances have changed", Haatainen is saying now. By this she refers to the international development. For example, in the other Nordic countries as well as in Germany, plans are already afoot to launch tuition fees for international students.
"There is also certain pressure from the universities as to the financing of the studies of the increasing number of foreign students in Finland."
Another issue to be studied, according to Haatainen, is the scholarship system.
Rector Gustav Björkstrand of Åbo Akademi regards Haatainen's announcement as a good opening. He is also the head of the Finnish Council of University Rectors, and even if some rectors are against fees, he considers it worthwhile to investigate the matter.
"If all other European countries are to introduce such fees, I cannot understand how Finland alone could refrain from launching them. In terms of money, they cannot be very important", Björkstand argues.
Rector Yrjö Sotamaa of the University of Art and Design in Helsinki feels that Finnish universities should be able to sell their tuition to those foreigners who are willing to come and study here.
The MA degree programmes of the University of Art and Design seem to appeal to foreign students more and more. For example last spring, applications were received from 45 countries, most of them coming from China, the USA, and Japan.
According to Sotamaa, students could be charged fees according to their ability to pay. Moreover, financial support might be available also from foreign governments and companies.
On the other hand, it is the quality of education that counts, not the fact that no fees are required in Finland, says Sotamaa.
The number of foreign university students in Finland has almost doubled in the course of the last decade. In 2003, there were 4,427 foreign students, the majority of them (2,641) being from Europe, while the share of Asian students in particular (1,200) has been growing.
Last autumn, the number of applicants who were not Finnish citizens was 3,738, while only 819 of them enrolled as students.
Helsingin Sanomat