Photo: ANP HH / Peter Hilz The slow student fine may be retracted in favour of a different austerity measure. RTL Nieuws reports that Minister Eppo Bruins is currently discussing the matter with his colleagues in the cabinet.
The new cabinet’s programme includes implementing a slow student fine of three thousand euros for students who incur a delay in excess of one year. Through this measure, the cabinet hopes to cut 282 million euros in the annual budget.
Bruins is said to want to alter this programme. The slow student fine is not a popular measure, and implementing it by the planned start of the 2026/2027 academic year is impossible as the required change in legislation cannot be made in time.
‘Concerning stories’
Bruins himself appears unenthusiastic about the measure. They hear ‘truly concerning stories’ about, for example, caregiving students and students from disadvantaged families who are more likely to fall back. And there are more such groups of students.
The minister wants to avoid ‘disproportional and harsh’ effects of the measure, he recently told the House of Representatives. But, he added that there are also budget cuts he needs to implement.
RTL claims that increasing tuition fees (currently set at 2,530 euros) for all students is a serious alternative that Bruins is discussing with his colleagues. Another option is to increase tuition fees for international students.
Over 800,000 students were enrolled in tertiary education last year, of which 340 were enrolled at a university and 461 thousand at a university college. These numbers show that Bruins could also achieve the budget cut if every student pays 350 euros more.
European rules make increasing tuition fees for international students difficult. European students studying in other EU member states pay the same fees as nationals of those states. An indirect increase could be achieved by increasing tuition fees for English-spoken programmes, but that would also impact Dutch students following those programmes.
Unconfirmed
The ministry spokesperson is unable to confirm the news. The formal narrative states that the minister is still working out the details of the long-term study fine.
Student organisations have been protesting the cabinet’s measures for months. The Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg calls the slow student fine ‘unjust and unviable’ and feels that the minister seeking an alternative to cut 228 million euros per year means he finally acknowledges this. The ISO would rather see the budget cuts reversed.
