The Storting has decided that new students from outside the EEA and Switzerland must pay to study in Norway from autumn. The requirement to pay an own fee does not apply to refugees and exchange students. On Friday, March 24, proposals for necessary changes to the law on universities and colleges were sent to the Storting for consideration.
The background to the proposal is the need to define some clear priorities in the state budget for 2023. Tuition fees are one of these priorities. This was adopted by a large majority in the Storting last autumn, at the request of the government in October 2022. The proposed changes to the regulations were subject to social consultations.
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– Norway is one of the few countries that offers free education to all international students. At the same time, Norwegian students in the vast majority of cases have to pay tuition fees in other countries. As far as we know, there are currently no other European countries that do not require fees from non-EU students, other than some federal states in Germany. There is no reason why it should be different in Norway, says Minister of Science and Higher Education Ola Borten Moe.
Specifically, the proposal means that from the Fall 2023 semester, state-run universities will require students who are citizens of non-EEA countries or Switzerland to pay their own fees. The out-of-pocket payment must at least cover the costs of education incurred by the institution.
In the case of non-public universities that receive state subsidies. It is proposed that state subsidies should not be used to cover the operational costs of educating the same group of people.
These groups do not have to pay tuition:
- Refugees
- People displaced from Ukraine, covered by collective protection in Norway
- Students who come for exchange to Norway on the basis of agreements between Norwegian institutions and foreign
- Foreign nationals who are eligible for loans and grants from Lånekassen, for example because they are married to a Norwegian citizen or have worked or studied in Norway for some time
- Foreigners who are entitled to equal treatment with Norwegian citizens
- Candidates for doctoral students
- The Ministry will regulate a few exceptions in the law, e.g. for participants in one of the national cooperation programs targeted for example at the NORHED and NORPART programmes, for the Students at Risk program and for the Sami University. This is discussed in more detail in the draft act.
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Source: regjeringen
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