RSM charges students who enrol in the ‘advanced’ version of the Finance & Investment master programme an additional EUR 8,000 on top of the statutory tuition fee. We see a comparable arrangement in the case of the Business Administration part-time master programme, where students have to fork out a total of EUR 17,000 per year. Both master programmes have come under the scrutiny of the Dutch Inspectorate of Education, since in principle, institutions aren’t allowed to charge European students more than the statutory tuition fee of EUR 2,060 for programmes supported with public funds.
More interaction with the private sector
According to RSM, the higher tuition fees are justified by the extra intensive programmes offered to students. For example, Finance & Investment Advanced includes far more interaction with the private sector than the regular master programme, says RSM spokesperson Marianne Schouten. And the part-time Business Administration master’s offers ‘smaller-scale lectures, more evening education, better facilities and a higher level of service’ than the standard MBA programme. Indeed, RSM previously saw ‘no reason to review the current tuition fee’.
In contrast with the Business Administration part-time master programme, Finance & Investment Advanced has already been cancelled for the 2019-2020 academic year – even before the Inspectorate of Education has announced its final decision. RSM was in something of a rush due to the registration deadline, which is 15 March. The deadline for the part-time MBA is 15 May. “We want to prevent students from enrolling in a master programme that may not even be around in a few months,” says Schouten. “We’re now offering these students a regular Finance & Investment master’s in combination with an honours programme.”
The Dutch Inspectorate of Education expects to publish its final report at some point in March.
