International students may have to pay tuition in 2023 – VG

Students strongly react to the fact that the government will charge fees to international students who come to Norway. We need diversity, they say.

– International students are angry and confused. Everyone is sad and unwelcome after the government message, says Amine Fquihi.

He heads the organizations for international students in Norway, the Union of International Students of Norway. Fquihi believes Norway will fight in the competition for international students if tuition fees are introduced.

In the state budget for 2023, the government proposes that international students from outside the EEA area and Switzerland must pay to study in Norway.

– Norwegian students in most cases have to pay university fees to study abroad. There’s no reason it should be any different here, says Education Minister Ola Borten Moe in one declaration.

The proposal to the government calls for universities and colleges to charge tuition fees starting in the fall 2023 semester inclusive.

Worried student

Ecem Bilgin (24) from Turkey is studying a master’s degree in administration and organizational science at the University of Bergen. They are the students that the government wants to pay from next year.

– How would you have been hit?

– It depends on the tariff that is introduced, but I assume it would be too high. If they charge me a fee to continue my education next fall, I may have to interrupt my education and go back to my country.

The fee that the government will send to international students must at least cover the costs of the educational institution and will apply to new students, the government writes.

The government thus returns to its promise. The Labor Party and the Center Party have it in them collaboration platform written:

“Higher education in Norway must be free, even for international students.”

The tuition proposal must be approved in the Storting, and it is possible that other political parties will declare themselves in favor of stopping the introduction of tuition.

– People are very friendly

Turk Bilgin says international students are worried. The 24-year-old first came to Norway as an exchange student before returning to take a master’s degree this year.

– Nature is fascinating and people are very friendly. There are many possibilities and you can easily find a place for yourself in a group. Feel the warm welcome of Norway no matter where you come from. These are the main reasons why I ended up here and chose to go back.

Now he thinks that the government’s proposal sets the stage for differential treatment

– Norway attracts many successful foreign students with free education.

– Is it a problem that it is introduced?

– The most important thing is that this will create a greater gap between rich and poor. This proposal implies that it is only an opportunity for those with money. It automatically ignores the rest of the hard-working, smart and successful world population who don’t have much money. I really hope Norway can continue to set a good example for the rest of the world with free education, says Bilgin.

The leader of the student parliament of the University of Bergen believes that the student environment needs diversity.

– We are afraid of what it will do to the international competence of the students, on which we depend. We need wise minds from all different backgrounds. We are afraid of the kind of signals this sends to students around the world, says leader Aksel Haukom.

I think Norway will lose

Student leader Fquihi believes fewer international students will choose Norway if university fees are introduced.

– The lack of top-notch universities, the language barrier – in addition to university fees – will make Norway an unattractive alternative. The few students from all over the world who can still afford to study in Norway will not necessarily receive a better quality education than before if tuition fees are introduced. For example, Asian students with highly competitive educational environments will take this into account when considering whether to study in Norway versus the US or England.

Fquihi rhetorically asks:

– Why study in Norway, where it is expensive to live and there is a language barrier, when you can study in an English-speaking country with a lower cost of living?

The Norwegian Student Organization (NSO) believes that the value of international students is greater than the costs of providing free education.

– The proposal violates a fundamental principle in Norwegian education policy, that all education should be free. One principle applies to everyone, not some. We believe this is the first step towards introducing tuition in Norway, says NSO leader Maika Marie Godal Dam.

The student organization believes that the diversity of international students contributes to strengthening Norwegian academia and social development.