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 has been discussed in the National Council and the Council of States over the past few months. Both chambers agreed on the increase; however, the Committee for Science, Education and Culture (WBK) of the Council of States favored a doubling, while the National Council supported a tripling. The final decision now rests with the Council of States, and if it aligns with the National Council on the tripling, the ETH Law will be amended accordingly.

To avoid this legislative change and the encroachment on the university's autonomy, the ETH Board decided to revisit the issue of increasing fees for international students. Following this discussion, they decided that they now want to triple the fees for international students.

This decision is completely contrary to the ETH Board's decision four months ago and is purely a reaction to political pressure, not because the increase brings any real benefit. With this decision, the ETH Board disregards the wishes of the universities and, above all, the needs of us students.

The ETH Board decided in its last meeting on July 10-11 to triple the tuition fees for international students. This decision is completely contrary to the ETH Board's decision four months ago, where the increase was rejected. Accordingly, this decision is merely a reaction to the decisions in the National Council and the Committee for Science, Education and Culture of the Council of States (WBK-S), which foresee an amendment to the ETH Law and the establishment of a two- or threefold increase in tuition fees for international students. The decision of the Council of States on this legislative change is still pending, and the ETH Board aims to prevent the Council of States from approving it with its current decision. This political tug-of-war demonstrates that it is not about the additional funds (as they will only serve as a tiny patch on a huge gap in federal funding), but rather about sending political signals, with students being used as pawns and bearing the consequences of these decisions. VSETH will continue to fight against the increase and this decision by the ETH Board. Part of this will be an action day in the first weeks of the new semester. More information will follow in the coming weeks!

Background – who is considered as a foreign student in this context?

In this matter foreign students are all persons with foreign citizenship who were resident abroad when they acquired their university entrance qualification. This means that people with foreign citizenship that required their university entrance qualification (Matura) in Switzerland are not considered as foreign students in this context.

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