Study in Norway: The Nordic country introduces tuition fees for foreign students first time ever

The Norwegian Parliament has passed a bill. From now universities will ask all new international students from nations outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland to pay tuition fees.

On Friday, March 24, the Parliament made the choice to end tuition-free university enrollment for citizens of third-country nations. Following a presentation of a proposal made by the administration in October 2022.

The reason behind the implementation of tuition fees in Norway

Norway’s Minister of Research and Higher Education, Ola Borten Moe, stated that Norway has been one of the few nations in the world to offer free higher education to international students. While Norwegian citizens typically pay tuition fees abroad, in response to the decision.

With the exception of a few German states, there are now no other European nations that do not demand payment from students from outside the EU. There is no justification for Norway to be any different, the Minister stated.

As a result of the decision, public universities and colleges will start charging overseas students enrollment fees as of the fall semester of this year. SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that each institution will determine the fees, which must cover their educational costs at a minimum.

Private schools and universities that receive state funding must now stop utilising those funds to pay operating expenses for the education of international students.

Scope for exemption from paying tuition fees in Norway

Additionally, the nation has made the decision to exempt a number of international student populations from paying the fees, including refugees, Ukrainian migrants, exchange students, doctorate candidates, etc.

The government also proposed a brand-new education law on March 24. Among other things, it will grant everyone the right to upper secondary education till they have really finished school.

According to information from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), there were 293 post-doctoral students and 3,943 university and college students in Norway in 2022 who had residence permits.

In that same year, there were 5,187 enrolled students from EEA nations, with 1,556 from Germany, 911 from France, 614 from Italy, 503 from Spain, and 485 from the Netherlands.

Keep an eye on news updates from Leverage Edu for more such international educational updates.