Universities Call for Fee Delay in Sweden
Posted on December 15th, 2009 by InternationalStudentGuruAs highlighted in our post back in 2008, the Swedish government was looking to change a long standing tradition where international students are not charged to study in Sweden. Throughout much of Europe and the world, international students typically have to pay full tuition to attend a University – and Sweden was one of the few remaining countries where this was not the case.
However, this is all about to change and with 2010 right around the corner the changes are looming – but there has been backlash from some of the countries top academics who are calling on the government to delay the introduction of the new fee structure for international students. The pro-rectors of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Lunds University and Gothenburg University have come out saying:
“Look to Denmark which lost 90% of its international students when introducing fees without a proper preparation by the universities,” the pro-rectors declared. “Many courses in English at masters level will have to be cut because that is where the foreign students are, and Swedish students will prefer other courses.”
So far there has been no response from the Swedish government which is aiming to reduce its budget allocated to higher education in 2011 by up to SEK 500 million (EUR48 million or US$72 million) – and the fees from international students were expected to compensate for this cut.
For more information about the changes in Sweden for international students please check out the following article which provides more in depth news and views:
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20091127125048259
and post your comments about the changes below…….
