At the start of the university and higher education school year, it’s interesting to compare the situation faced by students in various European countries.
When reading this, French students, who are always protesting, should actually be pleased.
Are Europeans not all equal when it comes to accessing higher education? This is what a study published by Eurydice reveals, a network of the European Commission responsible for providing information on educational systems and analyzing educational policies in Europe. The study presents the amount of university enrollment fees, for both undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as the amount of aid granted to students based on social criteria and merit in the 27 member states of the European Union for the 2018/2019 academic year.
The data, summarized in the comparison below, indicates very variable situations depending on the country.
By providing both elements concerning university enrollment costs and others related to the aid granted to students, whether on social criteria or merit, the Eurydice study provides an overview of the actual access to higher education in Europe.
The differences from one member state to another are significant. Countries like Sweden, Austria, and Finland allow everyone to pursue studies without requiring tuition fees and grant students scholarships that can amount to almost 10,000 euros per year.
Conversely, Ireland has among the highest average enrollment fees. Each student—except for scholarship recipients—is required to pay a fixed “contribution” of 3,000 euros per year for undergraduate studies. This increases to 4,000 euros for graduate studies and up to 30,000 euros for certain institutions. The maximum financial support also varies significantly, from 300 euros to nearly 6,000 euros, with an additional 2,000 euros available as a merit-based scholarship.
Some countries have very low enrollment fees but provide only limited aid to their students. This is the case in the Czech Republic, where university costs only 27 euros per year for both undergraduate and graduate studies. However, social criteria-based scholarships are only 1,190 euros per year and are received by only a limited number of students.
Its neighbor, Slovakia, also has very low enrollment fees (40 euros) but offers more generous aid. An average of 1,150 euros, and up to 3,600 euros, is available to help cover housing costs, for example.
France and French-speaking Belgium have relatively low fees (260 euros and 836 euros for undergraduate studies) and offer similar scholarships, around a maximum of 5,000 euros per year. Germany leads the European ranking in terms of student aid. While enrollment fees are almost nonexistent (some Länder require low administrative fees), social criteria-based scholarships can reach 8,820 euros per year and up to 12,420 euros for merit!
These amounts also vary depending on the progress in studies (see the complete table below)* and therefore reveal significant, persistent inequalities in Europe when it comes to accessing higher education.
