“ALTOGETHER 119 Members of Parliament have signed an initiative on tuition fees for foreign students. The payment would be collected from university students who come from outside EU and ETA countries.
Spokesmen of the bill include Arto Satonen (NCP), Jukka Kärnä (SDP), Ari Torniainen (Centre Party) and Reijo Tossavainen (Finns Party).
The MPs would like to set the tuition fees to a level that corresponds to the costs of teaching. According to them the expenses of a single master’s degree amount to approximately 8,000 euro a year. MPs do point out, however, that the number of foreign students has to be increased. Thus the tuition fees should not be too high at first.
Satonen and co. propose that a student who has integrated into working life in Finland could deduct the issued payments in taxes during five years. The MPs hope that this way Finland lures new professionals. Most of foreign students who receive their education here are employed somewhere else besides Finland.
The initiative states that the tuition fees for students who come from developing countries could be paid from development cooperation funds. A scholarship system for talented, but disadvantaged students could also be developed.”
TURUN SANOMAT 6 January
