Higher Education: Latest update on fees and financial support to students in Europe

Today, the European Commission’s Eurydice Network published its latest report on national student fee and support systems in European higher education. The report presents a snapshot of the main policies on fees and financial support to students in 43 higher education systems in 2020/21. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “The availability of financial resources has a major impact on students’ willingness and ability to participate in higher education studies, in particular, disadvantaged students. National student fee and support systems have an important role in supporting or discouraging access to higher education. This report gives us an excellent overview of national policies and will contribute to our work on achieving a European Education Area by 2025, for example, on the social dimension of higher education, widening access to under-represented groups and increasing the diversity of students in European study mobility.” The report shows that there are different approaches to student fees across Europe: in some countries, there are no fees; in others, all students pay fees; and in some countries, only certain categories of student pay fees. Some of these measures are also presented in the report. Similarly, in all European higher education systems, there is at least one type of direct financial support – public grants or loans – to students. The most common type of support are grants targeting socially or economically disadvantaged students. However, the proportion of students who receive grants and the annual amounts of these grants varies greatly across countries. In 2020, several governments adopted measures in the area of student fees and financial support to address or prevent financial difficulties due to the coronavirus crisis. Read the full report here.