Why tuition fees for overall students will not work

For some years now, the implementation of tuition fees has not been a debate about the degree of international students in Finland. Registration fee and the ongoing trial of non-European Union students in the European Economic Area (2010-14) regarding the developments have been reported by University World News a couple of times.

In the trial, the current government (2011-15) during the regime of these fees had been in negotiations with the government every spring to discuss their spending limits.

Both export and taxpayer education arguments at the position, but is based on fallacies.

Education exports and the 'necessity' fees

the most comprehensive is the argument used in the debate 'export education' is based on the concept.

British concept of Finland roughly corresponds to the concept of trans-national education, but in the sense of education export trade all the elements of education, such as teaching facilities, capacity building, infrastructure and management of the school and the wider curriculum.

In 2010, the Finnish education ministry working group to prepare a strategy for export markets in the United Kingdom and New Zealand operation as a model for education, and the World Trade Organization GATS - the General Agreement on Trade in Services - as a starting point.

Tuition fees for the argument goes as follows: Finland, the Finnish education system prestige and financially capitalizing on export revenues would increase, and to a large extent contributed to the recovery of the economic downturn.

This strategy, according to its advocates, the fact that Finland as a tuition-free education, and so it is necessary 'tuition-free education obstacle' to remove and allow higher education institutions and secondary schools hampered by the non-European Union and the European Framework academic fees.

What is missing above argument is the knowledge and understanding of international education markets.

First, international students and buyers are not clueless travelers grabbing anything that comes their way. Instead, different countries to attract international students who study in a particular field.

For example, the majority of international students in the United Kingdom and the United States in connection with business and engineering, economics and social sciences in the Netherlands, the students are going to study programs.

So we must ask: what is the niche markets Finnish education? According to the Finnish embassies and universities, public administration, education and social services (including health and medicine) Finland is to attract international students.

This leads to a second point: the Finnish education authorities and organizations interested in buying overseas national and international organizations, not to the individual student.

This is natural in the sense that the above-mentioned issues, such as the purchase of an individual student that they are either too expensive, or they are subjects that lost out in competition with the economy, law and so on, then, that the promises of the premium income.

Therefore, prospective students considering whether to invest in, say, € 60,000 (US $ 80,130) a (Finland), teacher training does not earn large benefits will accrue, or £ 25,000 (US $ 42,000), there is a level of business will generate significant benefits for a year, and then it is not difficult to predict what will be investment-minded student.

As a result, advocates of the Finnish education export institutional buyers (and sub-national public administration, international organizations, companies, etc.) instead of individual students should be looking at us to leave.

Finnish higher education institutions 'reform of education' as called for under the Law of Universities in Finland are already in Article 9, which means that they can sell degrees of institutional buyers and buyers who have to decide what kind of education they want - within a general standard of quality - they want to.

This holds true as long as the buyer does not charge student fees are being sent. This action was launched in 2008, and Finland's higher education institutions to meet the demands of the market authorization. What is difficult is this concept that some institutions are interested in getting down to business - in cases where there were concrete proposals to offer.

It is noteworthy here, everything else is already possible to trade in Finland for undergraduate tuition fees for individual courses and training modules will be tradable, and operates more education purely on the basis of the market. In fact, the Finnish education industries abroad for further education in order to make the trade and sale of education.

Therefore, rather than being a barrier to business blaming the tuition-free education, should be asking is why it is not interested in grasping business opportunities available? In particular, companies in the field of reform are much greater and more stable source of funding than the financial terms of the individual student.

The answer is a lack of know-how and cooperation between higher education institutions is the lack of. Finland's support for the government and the ministry have not been too much in fees whether or not to stay stuck in the argument.

The national student union does not stop there, but went to the last drop is still keeping tuition-free education to develop proposals for education export. Many export professionals and other interested parties are welcome to this strategy, but its value was lost in the political debate was started again after the old enrollment this spring.

Austerity policies and the taxpayer argument

This argument is used for the common-sense assumption that the international students in Finland, the Finnish social security based on enjoyment, and leave the country to get to their level, will enjoy free education paid by the taxpayer, but it does not give anything back.

So the Finnish higher education institutions should be forced to collect tuition fees from them - not the taxpayers' money would be wasted.

This argument is more correct than the export argument.

The first mistake is clear that there are international students in Finland will have the right to social security; They sustain themselves. This is 50% overall - - find a job in Finland Secondly, the argument, in fact, more than 70% of international students after graduation to stay in Finland and 70% within a year of them rejected.

Note that the taxes they pay (the tax rates along with Finland) and 'investment costs' as free education, the situation is a profitable investment for a few years - that even if 30% of the country. That is, I think, from the OECD is the logic behind the idea of ​​recruiting international talent.

The third flaw in the argument for international students to finance their living in Finland in connection with the first argument. Some preliminary estimates of € 200 million (US $ 267 million) to account for the flow of capital into Finland every year, which is around twice as much as it could have been gained through tuition fees, even in the best of cases by wildly unrealistic.

Setting the number of international students in Sweden as rates plunge, and that would cause a crash, the flow of capital spending also would affect living costs. So, in fact, the case that the flow of foreign capital into Finland would dive in tuition fees could be established. This suggests that the tuition-free education through tuition over Finland would actually attract more foreign spending.

Money 'to save taxpayers' argument is also an error in the fourth. There are lessons to be learned from the Finnish trial enrollment, few indeed, but it is clear and undeniable, Sweden and Denmark, as to some extent, Finland would be the case if the fees were set, the number of international students who would actually come and pay the full fee will be small It would.

This has nothing to do with the quality of education nor any other matters related to education, but the fact that the total cost would be too large for students to study in Finland. It is very expensive to live in Finland, and the full cost of tuition is thrown - as required by the proponents of this argument - a no-go on the study in Finland had a lot of opportunities.

Generous scholarships, like Sweden, it would be necessary to help these students. This, of course, more or less, free education would be the same anyway. But it is not enough: it would be more expensive. Grant systems, social conditions, and so the students with all the necessary work to decipher the administration, would require additional funding.

Nordstomek As a university vice-chancellor of one of Finland put it: “ Universities should also become a detective"

And state - - in the case of a few students who actually pay the fee, this would not be where higher education institutions to collect fees more expensive than it was a situation would bring tuition-free education. Enrollment for this trial is really very likely to be the case in a university and a lot of other work going on in the offices of an international staff to count the hours.

The result is a highly-intuitive, but it's actually unbelievable, tuition may become an expensive option.

Do not charge fees for international students

so what does it come down to?

However, the facts that international students to study in Finland can not afford the tuition fees are collected: recruitment of Finnish higher education institutions in the pool is not child-millionaires children, but the children of the middle classes in developing countries.

For them, tuition-free education is a sign of social justice and equal opportunity guarantees. And for them, a clear factor in tuition free education to pull onto the international talent competition will be held in Finland.

The same thing happens when it comes to the export of education is a reflection of the Finnish education and the creation of the Nordic welfare society and the excellent quality of its long tradition of building a society based on sustainable and socially.

It is stated in the Universities Act, to promote research and education in addition to free, the Finnish university's mission is to educate students to serve their country and humanity.

If this principle is developed for export by education - and should be - then the tuition fees are not needed. And the fee for placing a barrier in the way of international students coming to Finland is not exactly serve the humanity. Tuition-free education, on the contrary, it fits well for this purpose, and so it is worth promoting.

* Armor Kallunki education policy officer of the National Union of University Students in Finland.