Erasmus University has one more opportunity to explain why the tuition fee charged for the part-time Business Administration master’s programme is so high, writes Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven. If this explanation is not convincing, the Inspectorate will assess what consequences this will have for the government grant received earlier, and whether students currently in the programme are entitled to compensation.
17 thousand euro per year
In early 2018 it emerged that students in Erasmus University’s two-year part-time Business Administration master’s programme were paying a tuition fee of 17 thousand euro per year. That’s significantly more than the statutory tuition fee of 2,060 euro that government funded programmes are permitted to charge. Erasmus University was informed by Van Engelshoven in March 2018 that it was breaking the law and that RSM was only permitted to charge the statutory tuition fee for the programme. RSM disagrees with the minister’s stance, and the Inspectorate subsequently launched an investigation.
While the investigation in this matter is ongoing, both the Minister and the Inspectorate have already stated that the high tuition fee contravenes the law. Erasmus University now has one last opportunity to provide additional information.
Compensation
If this information is not convincing, current students and students enrolled in the programme in preceding years may be entitled to financial compensation, according to Minister Van Engelshoven.
An RSM spokesperson released a statement saying that while the faculty ‘has no intention of operating contrary to the law’, it would wait for the Inspectorate’s judgement in the matter. She also stated that current and prospective students are not preoccupied by the matter and that a clear explanation for the programme’s high tuition fee is given in the brochure and on the website.
