It’s too late to lower tuition fees’

‘It’s too late to lower tuition fees’

The cabinet can no longer lower tuition fees for the coming academic year, writes Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf in response to parliamentary questions. 

From September 2023, tuition fees will go up by 105 euros. With this, the cabinet is following inflation as calculated by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). But CBS now doubts its own method and is going to change it. Given that new method, the increase would only have to be 67 to 85 euros, the Higher Education Press Agency (HOP) reported. The political parties CDA and Volt asked written questions about this. Will the rate then still go down a few tens?

Dijkgraaf has no plans to lower the tariff as yet. The ministry must always announce the new rate before 1 November and that has already happened, Minister Dijkgraaf’s answer says. Moreover, CBS is only going to introduce this new method next year – and not retroactively.

The statutory tuition fee for academic year 2023/2024 will be EUR 2,314. First-year students will pay half, as will second-year teacher training students. This halving will disappear a year later, from September 2024, in exchange for a higher supplementary grant. (HOP, BB)