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Finland plans tuition fees for non-EEA students

Finland’s government is planning to introduce tuition fees for higher-education students coming from outside the European Economic Area.

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Finland remains the last EU country that does not charge tuition to international students. But that could soon change. In December 2012, a majority of the Finnish parliament (119 of 200) signed an initiative calling for the introduction of tuition fees for non-EU/EEA students.

The leader of the National Coalition Party’s parliamentary group, MP Arto Satonen confirms the government is weighing the plan, Yle reports. Minimum fees of 4,000 euros will be payable each year under government plans, with the system slated for introduction in 2016.

Exchange students will not be affected.

The revenue from tuitions will be available for use by higher education institutions, which will also be expected to set up financial aid for less wealthy students from outside the EEA.

The number of foreign students in Finnish higher education institutions is increasing steadily. In 2009, there were over14,000 foreign degree students in Finland, Study in Finland writes.

The biggest student flows to Finland come from China and Russia. However, the biggest growth rate during the 2000s has been in the numbers of students from Nepal, Vietnam, Ethiopia and India.

The most popular fields of education for foreign degree students are engineering/technology and business. Also popular in the university sector are natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities.