ÖH demo in Vienna

Higher tuition fees? Now students are fighting back

(Bild: APA/HERBERT PFARRHOFER)

The FPÖ and ÖVP's plan to increase tuition fees to up to 1000 euros is causing massive resistance. The Austrian National Union of Students (ÖH) strongly condemns the plan and sees it as a serious restriction on free access to higher education. For this reason, the ÖH has called for a demonstration on Karlsplatz on Friday at 4pm. 

"We must defend open access to higher education - against social injustice and for an education that is open to all!" said the ÖH chair team on Friday. Together with Viennese university representatives, there will be a demonstration against the planned measures at Karlsplatz from 4 pm.

State funding for universities
Instead of tuition fees of 1000 euros, the ÖH is calling for universities to be fully funded by the state. "Austrian universities have been chronically underfunded for years. Instead of finally combating this state of emergency with state subsidies, the blue-black government is planning a massive increase in tuition fees. The perfidious thing about this is that tuition fees do not even contribute two percent to the financing of the university system," Sarah Rossmann from the ÖH chair team criticizes the increase in no uncertain terms.

Will studying soon cost 1000 euros a year?

In the current coalition negotiations between the FPÖ and ÖVP, an increase in tuition fees is being discussed. According to reports, the fees could be raised to up to 1000 euros per year.

The criticism of the ÖH is not unfounded: Back in 2000, an FPÖ-ÖVP government introduced tuition fees - with drastic consequences. The number of students at the University of Vienna plummeted by almost 16 percent at the time.

A quarter of students work part-time
Nina Mathies from the chair team emphasizes the social hardship of the measure: "Students can't afford to study anyway. The results of the Student Social Survey 2023 have shown that three quarters of Austrian students already have to work alongside their studies in order to be able to afford them."

Simon Neuhold, also a member of the chair team, also points out that the government's argument of playing off studies and vocational training against each other is a distraction from the real problem. Instead of investing in education, further cuts were being made. "In the justification for the new hurdles, studies and vocational training are being played off against each other - with both students and apprentices losing out."

Counteracting the shortage of skilled workers
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether and in what form the planned increase in tuition fees will be implemented. However, some negotiators argue that higher tuition fees could make studying less attractive in order to attract more young people to apprenticeships and counteract the shortage of skilled workers.