Lijst Calimero requests that UG lowers institutional tuition fees
Faction chair Floor Buigel says it mainly concerns international students from outside the European Union. ‘They pay at least 12,000 euros a year, and while they also have a right to the government’s compensation, it pales in comparison to what they have to pay.’
On May 15, the Dutch government announced that all students suffering delays caused by the corona crisis and therefore graduating between September of 2020 and January of 2021 will be remunerated 535 euros of their tuition fees.
Erasmus University
The Erasmus University in Rotterdam recently decided that international students who pay institutional tuition fees and who won’t be able to graduate in the summer due to corona will only have to pay the legal tuition fee of 2,143 euros to finish their degree next year.
Lijst Calimero would like the UG to follow in the Rotterdam university’s footsteps and apply the same temporary rule in Groningen. ‘We’ve been talking to a lot of international students. Many of them, and their parents, don’t have a lot of financial security. They’re also really afraid that they won’t have enough ECTS to keep their student visa.’
Painful stories
While the student party has mainly heard these painful stories from international students outside the EU, they want the rule to apply to everyone. ‘Every single student who is paying institutional tuition fees should be eligible for this’, says Buigel.
She emphasises the importance of reaching ‘realistic financial security’ as quickly as possible. ‘The UG is responsible for its students. If other universities can do it, the UG should work to catch up.’