Students demand a refund of tuition fees: ‘None of us are getting the experience we paid for’
These 1300 students have signed the petition of Igor Gukasyan, an International Business Administration student who demands a refund of the tuition fee to students of Erasmus University. According to Gukasyan, it is unreasonable for the students to pay the full price of tuition, given the fact that most education will take place online.
Image by: Aysha Gasanova
With the help of his fellow classmates, he created a petition to visualise the size of the problem and to provide a platform so that people with the same view on the issue can express their opinion. “The unfair pricing was already discussed a lot in WhatsApp groups among students. This petition shows that the problem exists and that it’s a big problem.” Gukasyan believes that the problem is even bigger than his petition shows. “Most students don’t know about the petition yet. However, I’ve received a lot of support from people at different faculties who are helping to deliver the petition to as many people as possible.”
Discount for graduating students
So far, the government has decided that students who graduate between September and January will receive three months’ worth of tuition fees. Additionally, Erasmus University offers a sizeable discount on the tuition fees of graduating students who are paying the institutional fee and are suffering delays. However, there are no official statements yet on what Erasmus University will do about the tuition fees of non-graduating students for next year. In Erasmus TV, rector magnificus Rutger Engels seemed to hint that there will be no discount at all.
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Deprived of offline education
The desired outcome of the petition is simple: the university should refund the cost difference between offline and online education to all students. “All of us have been deprived of offline education. None of us are getting the essential experience of studying that we came to Rotterdam for and that we paid for.” Especially students outside of the European Economic Area are suffering according to Gukasyan. “Not only do they have to go back to their home countries, but they also have to pay an awful lot more than others.”
On June 5, The Executive Board has sent an e-mail to all students with updates about the new corona regulations. In this e-mail they briefly mention the worries that some students have about the quality of online classes and the reduction of tuition fees. “As Executive Board, we are doing everything we can to start an ongoing dialogue with you to discuss what can be done to accelerate or improve the situation, within realistic limits.”
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Julia Schipper
Reporter
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Comments
3 reacties
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me op 26 June 2020 om 10:01
The student petition asks to “refund all students the difference between the costs of in-person education and online education”
This can be tricky, because accounting for all the extra work hours (during nights and weekends) teachers and support staff have put into online education, the total cost will be actually higher than for in-class teaching. I believe that we all should take more holistic perspective in the current situation and also in future.. None of us is responsible for the crisis, but we all need to contribute to overcome it…In this crisis everyone suffers… and of course, if we knew upfront, we would have made other decisions not only on study programs (but also developed a vaccine for the disease).Agree to “lecturer” that (most of the) students will get their degree and the underlying knowledge. In my opinion, this is what students pay for when enrolling for a university program. And university has put enormous effort to make online education and student graduation possible.
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Lecturer op 25 June 2020 om 19:17
In response to the students’ petition to obtain a refund of their tuition fees, I would like to point out that in the past months, student performance and attendance also failed to meet what would normally be expected from them. Still, examiners and instructors have generally displayed a great dose of empathy, understanding, and proactivity in addressing their emerging needs and constraints. Because of the efforts of faculty and university alike, the majority of students will most probably obtain their bachelor and master degree, in spite of difficulties, sub-par learning, and lacklustre engagement. I wonder how the 1300 students demanding the refund of their tuition would react if asked to enrol for an additional year in order to graduate.
Julio op 26 June 2020 om 20:00
It is logical for students to be underperforming. It is a crisis at the end. While the Netherlands is arguably one of the countries dealing with it better,the same cannot be said for many others. Countries is less develop areas are suffering, many without income. As an international student I pay 20k a year as tuition fee.If you ask me to re enroll, I would do it gladly but I can’t cause both of my parents aren’t working and it is impossible for me to pay that exorbitant amount of money.