Increase in tuition fees – Not a pawn in politics!

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Once upon a time in January 2024…

The ETH Board was considering tripling tuition fees for foreign students at ETH and EPFL. When the VSETH learnt about this, we immediately did everything we could to prevent it. It didn’t look good at first. We then began to meet with the members of the ETH Board to explain to them why such an increase was unacceptable, sought contact with the students at EPFL and wrote a letter to the Federal Council.

The heads of the ETH and EPFL schools also fought with us. They gave a series of media interviews and loudly criticised the lack of federal funding in the ETH Domain and that the situation at the universities was no longer sustainable.

We fought and we won. On 7 March 2024, the ETH Board decided against an increase in tuition fees for foreign students.

How nice it would be if this story were over here. The ETH Board wanted the students to pay, we fought tooth and nail, won and and they all lived happily ever after with the current tuition fees.

But unfortunately it wasn’t like that, because the Confederation wasn’t at all happy when they heard that the ETH Board had decided against the change. In fact, they were so angry that they decided to take matters into their own hands.

The ETH Law is enacted by the federal government. In it, the Confederation can determine the most important regulations for the ETH Domain and thus make decisions over the head of the ETH Board. They saw this as an opportunity. Although the federal government cannot set exact fees, it can stipulate in the ETH Law that the fees for foreign students must be at least three times the fees for Swiss students.

This is exactly what the parliament has now decided. On September 12, the Council of States followed the National Council proposal and supported the anchoring of tripled tuition fees for foreign students in the ETH law. This follows a decision by the ETH Board in June, in which it had already announced that it would triple tuition fees for foreign students starting in the fall semester of 2025, regardless of a legal change. Whether the decision of the Council of States was reinforced by the ETH Board's plan can only be speculated.

With this decision, both the federal government and the ETH Board are ignoring the wishes of the universities and, in particular, the needs of the students. Moreover, this decision clearly contradicts the position of the ETH Board in March, when the political pressure was still lower. This highlights that this step is primarily a political signal, made at the expense of students and the autonomy of the universities.

The Council of States has now aligned itself with the National Council's proposal to anchor tripled tuition fees for foreign students in the ETH law. This means that the law will be amended accordingly, making the increase in tuition fees mandatory. This intervention represents a serious attack on the autonomy of the universities and completely ignores the far-reaching consequences that this decision entails. It is far less about financial matters, as is often claimed, and more about political signals being sent at the expense of the students. Furthermore, the decision completely disregards the will of the universities and their assemblies. VSETH will work to ensure that this decision is mitigated by as many transitional regulations as possible, as well as sufficient compensation in the form of social scholarships, so that ETH institutions can remain as diverse and open-minded as they are today.

What is our position on this?

The student associations of ETH Zurich (VSETH) and EPFL (AGEPoly) as well as the Association of Swiss Student Bodies (VSS) are firmly opposed to this measure. The tripling of fees is unsustainable for students, who are already among the financially weakest groups in society, and actively works against the principle that education should be for everyone.

And what does this have to do with being pawns in politics?

On 29 May 2024, the Federal Council published a resolution on ERI (education, research and innovation) for the years 2025-2028. An average growth rate of 2.0% is envisaged for this area. For ETH in particular, the growth rate would be 1.7%. However, to ensure successful development in the area of education, research and innovation, annual growth of between 2.5% and 3.5% is required. This is due, among other things, to rising costs and student growth at ETH (3.5% on average in recent years). In addition, the federal contribution to ETH will be reduced by CHF 100 million for 2025.

Due to these financial restrictions, ETH will have a shortfall of around CHF 200 million in its budget over the next few years. In order to compensate for this deficit, tuition fees are to be increased.

So our tuition fees are being played with to compensate for a financial hole caused by the lack of federal funding.

Is that fair?

Clearly not!

The VSETH strongly believes that students do not have to and cannot compensate for the lack of federal funding. Furthermore, this increase does not result in any actual added value for the ETH budget, as the increase in income amounts to only CHF 16.3 million, which corresponds to a relative increase of only 0.89%. Added to this are additional expenses for increased social scholarships and administrative work associated with such an increase, which reduce this figure even further.

It therefore seems plausible to question whether the main aim of the tuition fee increase is to really solve ETH’s financial problems or merely to stick a plaster on them that cannot save us from the major losses in quality that we are already experiencing today. So we pay more and still get less and less. What is missing is the funding of the institutions.

What other arguments speak against this?

An increase in tuition fees for foreign students would reduce the attractiveness of ETH Zurich for talented students from abroad and thus weaken ETH’s international position. In addition, such an increase would emphasise the financial situation of students, which would further restrict equal opportunities in education. The reduced admission and training of talented people from abroad jeopardises Switzerland as a location for innovation and increases the domestic shortage of skilled workers, which ultimately puts the Swiss economy at risk.

It is important to recognise that the proposed changes are not only dangerous for the ETH Domain. The ETH Domain creates over 100,000 jobs and contributes significantly to value creation in Switzerland. It is estimated that every franc invested in the ETH Domain generates more than five francs of added value for the Swiss economy. This shows that even now, with the same tuition fees for all students, the ETH is already financially worthwhile for Switzerland.

An analysis of the figures shows that the proposed increase in tuition fees would not have a significant impact on the overall budget of our universities. The increase would only lead to additional revenue of around CHF 16.3 million. In relation to ETH’s overall budget, this is less than 1% additional revenue. Moreover, students are a comparatively financially weak group in society and cannot be expected to fill the large hole in the ETH budget. In addition, Zurich is one of the most expensive cities in the world and the cost of living has also risen sharply for students in recent years.

For us, it is clear that the financial bottlenecks in the ETH Domain are not due to a lack of student contributions, but to a lack of growth in federal funding. Instead of making students pay for this lack of funding, it is important that the Federal Council recognises the lack of growth in funding in the ERI Dispatch.

We now also have the results of the wiegETHs survey on the questions regarding the tuition fee increase. These results clearly show that the planned tuition fee increase will have a significant impact on the financial situation of countless students. It also shows that an ETH degree would no longer be possible for many under the new circumstances and that countless new scholarships would be needed.

A detailed analysis of the survey results can be found here.

What do we demand?

No increase in tuition fees in the ETH Domain: The current fee structures must be maintained in order to guarantee equal opportunities and maintain the attractiveness of ETH for international talent.

Students are not a pawn in politics: Political decisions must not be made at the expense of students’ educational and future prospects.

Increase financial support from the federal government: The Federal Council and Parliament must provide the necessary funds to ensure the long-term financial stability and growth of the ETH Domain.

What now?

How to stay up to date:

We have a new newsletter just for updates regarding the increase in tuition fees. You can sign up for this newsletter here

Check out our HoPo Blog for the latest developements

The VSETH newsletter will now always contain an update on tuition fees

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How you can get involved:

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FAQs

We will update this section continually with questions and answers:

When will the raise take effect?

Who is considered as a foreign student in this context?