2003-12-16

Costs for students in higher education

The National Agency for Higher Education considers it important to attempt to formulate regulations to supplement the Higher Education Ordinance´s basic principle that no fees may be charged. Regulations of this kind could provide important safeguards for students´ legal rights and also make it easier for the higher education institutions to reach their decisions in this respect. This enquiry proposes regulations of this nature. Its starting point has been the statements made about the intention of the legislation. The chief value of the enquiry and its proposals lies in its clarification of the problems that exist. It can provide the higher education institutions and student organisations with a basis for their arguments about how responsibility for payment may be allocated. It will then rest with the government to determine who is to pay for what.

In order to formulate the regulations regulations it proposes, the National Agency for Higher Education has presented 50 examples of the various costs that can arise in connection with higher education. On the basis of these costs and the stated intention of the legislation, the Agency has formulated the following assumptions on which to base the regulations to supplement the Higher Education Ordinance.

• A higher education institution is to be responsible for the costs of measures needed to enable it to provide and implement programmes.
• Study materials should be classified as consumables or other forms of material.
• Consumables which after use provide some result of private benefit to the student should be paid for by the individual. The costs of other consumables should be borne by the institution. The government should, however, come to a decision as to whether it should require the institutions to pay for all consumables.
• Other forms of material should be paid for by the student.
• The expression “equipment needed for their own personal use" should be worded in the Higher Education Ordinance as “equipment and aids that students can be expected to have access to for private use". Equipment and aids of this kind should be paid for by the students.
• An ancillary rule should state that the cost of equipment and aids that students generally need to be able to acquire knowledge and skills through private study is always to be paid for by the student.
• In addition to the costs to be paid by the students, higher education institutions may also require them to pay small sums for incidental features in their programmes.
• The higher education institutions must, however, endeavour to ensure that the costs incurred by students in connection with their higher education will be kept as low as possible.
• The boards of the higher education institutions are to issue directions about the terms on which funds may be granted to students for extra living costs in connection with obligatory study trips and obligatory placement periods in Sweden or abroad.

If students are to bear certain costs, it may be desirable for the higher education institution to offer an alternative that is free of charge. This must, however, provide a commensurate alternative. If it is not possible to offer an alternative of this kind, the question arises of whether the institution can provide funding to the students or if it possible for them to apply for an incremental study loan. The government should make it clear what conditions are to apply to loans of this kind at the same as it comes to a decision about the regulations proposed by the National Agency.

A draft of the report has been circulated to the higher education institutions, the Swedish National Union of Students (Sveriges Förenade Studentkårer) and other interested bodies. The responses received have been incorporated in this final version of the report with the Agency´s comments.