site.btaParliament to Review Amendments Aimed at Preventing Sharp University Fee Hikes, Says Education Minister

The National Assembly will review this week amendments to the Higher Education Act designed to prevent a steep increase in tuition fees for students in paid education, said Education and Science Minister Krasimir Valchev on Tuesday, quoted by the Ministry's press centre. He held a meeting with representatives of the Students Council and the Students’ Diplomatic Club at St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University.

Valchev recalled that over the past two years, the State has significantly increased subsidies for higher education institutions, with the additional funding linked to the quality of education. However, the current Higher Education Act stipulates that tuition fees for students in paid programmes must also rise proportionally with the state subsidy, he noted.

To prevent this, the legislative amendments propose to limit tuition fees for students in paid programmes to 60% (down from the current 100%) of the amount the State provides to universities for educating a student in the same field under the government-funded (state-subsidized) quota.

Another change foresees that tuition fees for already enrolled students cannot be increased by more than 20% compared to the previous academic year.

Student Council Chair Mihaela Koseva said that between 900 and 950 students at the University are in paid programmes, while around 20,000 are studying under the state quota. She expressed concern that the enrollment of newly admitted students begins on July 11, and they will be required to pay their tuition fees for the first semester. If the amendments are not adopted by then, the fees will be calculated under the current law and will be significantly higher.

Valchev pledged to appeal to University rectors not to charge higher fees before the legislative amendments are adopted. He has already spoken with Sofia University Rector Prof. Georgi Valchev, who assured him that no inflated fees will be collected from students.

The meeting was also attended by Students’ Diplomatic Club Chair Denis Vasilev, Deputy Education Minister Nikolay Vitanov, and directors of departments at Education Ministry.

On Monday, Valchev met with university rectors at the Higher School of Telecommunications and Posts, where he said that earlier warnings about increased state funding and existing legal provisions leading to higher tuition fees for paid programmes had come true.