Uni raises tuition fees for non-EU foreigners

A university in the eastern Germany state of Saxony has become the first to raise tuition fees drastically for non-EU foreign students. The fee hike from €220 to €3,600 each year could set a nationwide precedent.


Germany has long been a haven for foreign students seeking solid education without the astronomical prices demanded elsewhere, wrote the website of Der Spiegel magazine on Thursday.

Germany's 186,000 international students currently pay the same as locals - typically a maximum of a few hundred euros a semester, which usually includes the price of a semester transport ticket and health insurance.

Yet when Saxony's government gave the state's universities the choice from the beginning of this year to decide whether to demand higher fees from non-EU foreign students, many thought it could pave the way for the initiative to go nationwide.

- thelocal.de