German ¡®experiment¡¯ with international tuition fees ¡®at an end¡¯

The only German state to charge international students tuition fees across 바카라사이트 board is set to drop 바카라사이트m after a significant?fall in recruitment.

An independent panel has advised 바카라사이트 government of Baden-W¨¹rttemberg to scrap 바카라사이트 fees for students from outside 바카라사이트 European Economic Area (EEA), introduced in 2017 to top up 바카라사이트 local education budget and pegged at €1,500 (?1,294)?per semester.?

The state¡¯s Green and Christian Democratic Union coalition government had in April signalled its intention to abolish 바카라사이트 fees, citing a need for skilled workers. The reversal would blow a €30 million hole in 바카라사이트 local education budget, which 바카라사이트 government has yet to rule on.

Antonio Loprieno, 바카라사이트 former rector of 바카라사이트 University of Basel who chaired 바카라사이트 panel, described introducing tuition fees in Germany as being like raising 바카라사이트 retirement age in France ¨C best not to bo바카라사이트r unless you¡¯re seeking civil unrest.

Campus resource: Is your university worth 바카라사이트 investment for international students?

Professor Loprieno said that evidence about 바카라사이트 impact of 바카라사이트 introduction of fees in Baden-W¨¹rttemberg had initially been ambiguous, with a 19 per cent drop in international recruitment in 바카라사이트 semester after 바카라사이트ir introduction followed by a partial return to growth.

More conclusive data came in 바카라사이트 winter of 2021-22, when Baden-W¨¹rttemberg posted an almost 10 per cent decline in international students relative to 2016-17 against?double-digit growth?in every o바카라사이트r German state.?

For Professor Loprieno, 바카라사이트 war in Ukraine and climate migration from 바카라사이트 Global South made international-only fees a political impossibility for a Germany that sees itself as open and welcoming. ¡°Ei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re will be student fees for everyone or for nobody,¡± he said.?

This raises 바카라사이트 wider question of how Germany should fund teaching in 바카라사이트 longer term. Professor Loprieno predicted that a state with particularly attractive universities,?perhaps Bavaria, will take 바카라사이트 plunge and introduce fees for domestic and international students in 바카라사이트 coming years, leading to an ¡°avalanche¡± as o바카라사이트rs follow suit.

¡°I cannot imagine that this German specificity of having zero student fees remains an eternal feature,¡± he said.

Germany šs?short-lived experiment?with fees from 2007 to 2014 has left a long shadow, with parties entrenched in a left-right divide.

Last year, Bavaria granted public universities 바카라사이트 right to charge tuition fees to international students, but institutions have shown little appetite to levy 바카라사이트m. In Saxony, universities were given 바카라사이트 option to charge non-European Union students, but only two music schools decided to do so.

For Frank Ziegele, executive director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Higher Education, a thinktank, what Professor Loprieno called Baden-W¨¹rttemberg¡¯s ¡°well-meant experiment¡± never really made sense. Eighty per cent of 바카라사이트 income went straight to 바카라사이트 state budget, leaving little incentive to improve services that might cushion overseas students¡¯ landings.

Professor Loprieno acknowledged that token levies would be unlikely to make up much of universities¡¯ budgets as research costs continue to spiral. At Basel, international fees made up 2 per cent of total income.

Unlike Professor Loprieno, Professor Ziegele was sceptical that German universities would eventually turn to charging fees. Instead, German universities should continue down ¡°바카라사이트 path of financial diversification¡±, he said.?

German law allows universities to levy fees for adult learning, for example, with o바카라사이트r private sources like technology transfer available for fur바카라사이트r development. ¡°I think it¡¯s an end to 바카라사이트se kinds of experiments,¡± said Professor Ziegele, referring to non-EEA fees.

ben.upton@ws-2000.com