Romanian students complain about high tuition costs and illegal fees
Tuition for university studies has been growing steadily in Romania in the last few years, according to the National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania (ANOSR). Many of the taxes paid by students at 21 universities in the country are “unjustified, borderline illegal or simply illegal”.
The Alliance recently launched a study which includes the value of the most important taxes students have to pay in21 university across Romania. In the last academic year, 38% of universities increased tuition fees. Moreover, in the last three years, 81% of universities increased the fees, according to the study.
ANOSR also shows the differences between tuition fees charged by universities for the same program of study, although the costs should be similar. For example, if at the Romanian-German University the tuition for the Law specialization is RON 2,000 (some EUR 450), the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca charges a tuition of RON 3,600 (over EUR 800).
The study also reveals the highest student accommodation fees applied by the Romanian universities: RON 540 (EUR 122) a month – at the Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu, RON 500 (EUR 113) – at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi and RON 450 (some EUR 100) – at Grigore T. Popa University of Pharmacy and Medicine in Iasi.
Looking at university entry fees, ANOSR found they vary between RON 20 (EUR 4.5) and RON 350 (some EUR 80), the highest such fees being charged by medicine universities: RON 350 (EUR 80) - Grigore T. Popa University of Pharmacy and Medicine in Iasi, between RON 200 (EUR 45) and RON 500 (EUR 113) – the University of Pharmacy and Medicine in Targu Mures and RON 300 (EUR 68) – the University of Pharmacy and Medicine in Cluj.
Universities can also charge registration fees, or confirmation fees, which should cover students’ registration in their official records. Although the costs for this process are insignificant, there are universities that ask a registration fee of RON 250 (some EUR 56), while other universities don’t ask for any additional fees to register students.
Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com
