#stopthetuitionfee

We, the Association of Iranian Students in Munich, support the cause of the "stoppstudiengebuehren" movement. We believe introducing tuition fees is not an optimum solution for multiple reasons.

Introducing tuition fee

• will not create substantial revenue: Although this policy might create small revenue, due to the well-known "Price Effect," it will significantly reduce the number of applicants obliged to pay tuition fees (Non-EU students)[1][2].
  

• adds to the social inequality: Since most of the targeted students are from developing countries, the tuition fee will disincentivize these groups the most to study in non-free universities, which adds to social inequality
  

• negatively affects the diversity and cultural exchange: The drop in the number of students from non-EU countries will hurt the diversity and cultural exchange, which is a priceless benefit of the presence of those students.
  

However, we acknowledge the concerns about

• Underfunding of higher education institutes

• Growing number of international students moving to 3rd countries after graduation.

• Lack of highly educated labor in German industry

We believe there are better solutions than introducing tuition fees, which will address the concerns without having the aforementioned adverse effects, such as "Service Obligation".

In "Service Obligation," an institute will offer scholarships, loans or subsidised study fees to students and oblige them to serve the government under specific conditions, e.g., working in German industries for a specific period. If the students do not met the conditions, they need to repay the financial support. (National University of Singapore offers such scheme: https://nusgs.nus.edu.sg/service-obligation-scheme/)

References:

1. Andreas B. Vortisch (2023) The land of the fee: the effect of Baden-Württemberg's tuition fees on international student outcomes, Education Economics, DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2023.2194585

2. Stephen Wilkins S.J.K.Wilkins@bath.ac.uk , Farshid Shams & Jeroen Huisman (2013) The decision-making and changing behavioural dynamics of potential higher education students: the impacts of increasing tuition fees in England, Educational Studies, 39:2, 125-141, DOI: 10.1080/03055698.2012.681360