Expensive RSM masters in breach of the law

For years, students have paid too much in tuition fees for two masters at RSM. Furthermore, the workload for two masters was too high. That was the conclusion of the Education Inspectorate on Friday. The university must ensure that the study programmes comply with the law before enrolments for the coming academic year.

More about the RSM masters

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• Inspectorate fails to intervene in high tuition fee for RSM master’s programme
• Minister blows the whistle on EUR for soaring tuition fees

For the Finance & Investment Advanced master and the two-year part time master in Business Administration, students have paid too much in tuition fees. For the former, RSM charged 8,000 euros on top of the statutory tuition fees of 2,060 euros while for the latter, students paid 17,000 euros a year. The extra contribution that students were required to pay for both masters is in breach of the laws and regulations, the Education Inspectorate reports. From the next academic year, the Finance & Investment Advanced master will no longer exist. RSM decided to scrap the programme, in anticipation of the Education Inspectorate’s report.

Too high workload

Furthermore, the workload for two masters was higher than permitted. For the Master in Management and Finance & Investment Advanced, students had to obtain 90 credits, although both masters are registered for 60 credits. According to the Education Inspectorate, that is also in breach of the law.

The inspectorate also concludes that the information provision by EUR and RSM about these three master programmes is not correct, despite the websites having been amended in response to the current inspection investigation. “The different programme options and the costs are not presented clearly enough to new students.” There was also insufficient transparency about the costs.

Swift change

For admission to the part-time master in Business Administration, RSM stipulated that students must have at least three years of relevant working experience. The Inspectorate doesn’t have a problem with this. In addition, the funding that the university has received for the master programme is correct.

The Education Inspectorate has told the university that it must ensure as quickly as possible that the three programmes comply with the law and regulations, before the close of the enrolment period for the next academic year.