Is this the beginning of the end for free higher education?

LUM gathers views from a variety of people on what they think the future of tuition fees holds for higher education in Sweden.

Dan Brändström, chair of the board at Linnæus University, former managing director of Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and government advisor on research and education.

“Yes, in the long term tuition fees will be introduced for all students in Sweden. The tax revenue won’t stretch to all the Government’s welfare commitments. But fees don’t cover all a university’s needs and in the future Swedish higher education will also be hit by more noticeable government savings, however painful that may be for those in power. In this case it is important to facilitate private donations. I have pleaded for donations to be tax exempt, but the Government has been remarkably unresponsive, bearing in mind that the alternative will probably be closing a number of higher education institutions, which will be very difficult for regional policy.

“So far, donations have mostly gone to research. It is more difficult to get people to give money for education because we have lived for so long with the perception that taxes cover everything. It is a challenge for the higher education institutions to act both to attract funding and to improve education. Education issues concern me the most! Research always gets by. There is a need for more and better teaching initiatives. The students must meet the teachers in the flesh – this is not happening enough in some areas.”

Thomas Kaiserfeld, Professor of the History of Ideas and Science, Lund University:

“Yes, I’m afraid I think we are going to see fees for Swedish students in the long term. This would probably make it more difficult to attract students to programmes and courses that don’t lead to a professional title, such as lawyer, economist, doctor or engineer. In this case I think we need to rethink the whole idea of the university: what do we want it to be like? Perhaps tuition fees should be introduced for certain professional academic programmes, at the same time as they are placed outside the university system in dedicated institutions, as used to be the case to some extent.
“Tuition fees would inevitably hit certain social groups. This necessitates strong counterbalances like the generous Swedish student finance system, which is almost unique in the world. We need to safeguard this.

“The ‘knowledge society’ means that we need to educate more people than in the past, but also differentiate higher education more. For example, I don’t think half of all young people should go to university and I don’t think practical vocational programmes are improved by forcing them into a theoretical, academic system. At the same time, we need to pick up and look after those who are really interested. I think that works better with a more flexible education system than with special elite and targeted upper secondary schools.”

Jan Björklund, Minister for Education (Folkpartiet):
“No, tuition fees for non-European students do not mean that we intend to introduce fees for Swedish students.”

LUM: “That’s not on the cards?”

JB: “No.”

Lars Oxelheim, Professor at the Institute of Economic Research, Lund University, active at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics in Stockholm and linked to Fudan University in Shanghai.

“I think tuition fees will be brought in for everyone and that they are necessary. It is part of global adaptation and the challenge of globalisation. But we need to do more than that. The Nordic countries are too small on their own to create top universities like Harvard and Stanford. A joint elite university would increase the possibilities to profile the Nordic countries as a region and attract the students and researchers from other parts of the world that we need to have a chance to hold our own in global competition.

“The tuition fees must be complemented with a generous scholarship system and something that can be compared to ‘microfinancing’ after graduation. This would be aimed at talented but less well-off students – both Swedish and international – to encourage and enable them to transform their newly acquired knowledge into companies and jobs. Measures are also needed to make it easier for international students to stay here after graduation.”

Simon Wetterling, economics student at EHL and president of Lund University Students’ Unions (LUS):

“The developments in other countries show that tuition fees for international students are quite quickly followed by tuition fees for domestic students as well. However, I hope this won’t be the case. We were against the tuition fees that have been introduced now and will collaborate closely at national level to stop any tuition fees for Swedish students.

“In my view, the only option to finance higher education is to increase the amount of government funding. The Government must show in deeds as well as words that it wants to make Sweden into a leading knowledge nation – leading in education, research and innovation. We have to compete with knowledge – we can’t compete with jobs and low wages. Increased funding is worth it in the long run because we then attract people who may stay, be productive and pay tax here. If we instead continue to erode the funding we will fall behind our international competitors, and then Swedish students will move abroad and stay there.

“The tuition fees for non-European students are a blessing in disguise, however, in that they put pressure on the University to improve the quality of the education it offers. We are constantly striving for improved quality and to raise the status of teaching skills, but such a development takes time. More resources are also needed, in particular in the social sciences and humanities.”

Mohamad Zakaria, student on the Master’s programme in Public Health and representative of the programme on the Programmes Council at Medicinska föreningen Lund-Malmö.

“I think fees will be introduced, first for EU students and then for Swedes within 7–8 years. The economic crisis is speeding up the process. But Sweden does itself an injustice with fees. We are already seeing this, as the number of non-European students coming here is falling – in Lund the figure has fallen from 600 to around 200. The high fees make Sweden less attractive for the really talented international students, who for that price choose the US or the UK instead.

“I think Sweden should better realise the value of having many good international students. It means business and links to the world which provide commercial and other opportunities. If Sweden is serious about competing on the basis quality, it would make more sense not to introduce fees for all non-European students, but rather offer a fairly large but limited group free education. Previously Lund University had 600 non-European students who studied for free. If that figure was reduced somewhat – to 400 for example – the chances of attracting really talented non-Europeans who cannot afford to pay would be higher. It would be worth it, because these students provide a boost to the programmes and courses by bringing different perspectives, knowledge and business cultures. This would create a more global classroom with an enriching diversity that would benefit Swedish students and lecturers.”

Eva Åkesson, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Lund University:

“There is a risk that this leads to fees for all in the long term, but we must guard against any trend in that direction. We have tried to manage the Government’s decision to introduce fees in a way that strengthens Lund University’s focus and quality and I think the process has worked well. But of course the fees mean that we risk losing some of the international mix that is linked to the global classroom and risk seeing a fall in quality. We want students to meet the world at Lund University.”

- Britta Collberg