Primarily institutions with a higher number of Ukrainian refugee students have withdrawn support

Higher education institutions with the highest numbers of Ukrainian refugee students are often no longer offering a discount to new students from the country. A notable exception is The Hague University of Applied Sciences.

When Russia invaded Ukraine last year, most higher education institutions gave new Ukrainian refugee students a discount on their tuition fees. They were allowed to pay the same rate as Dutch students.

Students from outside the ‘European Economic Area’ (EEA) are actually required to pay several thousand euros per year in ‘institutional tuition fees’. The now-collapsed government does not want to finance the studies of Ukrainian refugee students on a structural basis. As a result, many institutions have suspended the discount this year.

Higher education institutions with high numbers of Ukrainian refugee students in particular have tightened their purse strings. The Hague University of Applied Sciences is a notable exception.

On Monday, Minister Dijkgraaf sent to the House of Representatives an overview of the number of Ukrainian students per institution. According to preliminary figures, there are a total of 1,247.

Discount

The institutions have agreed that students who were enrolled last year can continue their studies at the reduced rate. They pay the same amount as Dutch students. However, not all new Ukrainian first-year students will benefit from the lower fees.

New government

Previously, Dijkgraaf urged institutions to continue to support Ukrainians, even though his ministry would not be providing funding. “I will leave this matter to a new cabinet”, he reiterated in his response to GroenLinks.