This was last week's friday. This is, very short, what's happening here now:
Our normal tuition fees are something like €1300 - 1800 a year, some schools ask a little extra, like some art academies. This is without books and stuff, this is purely what you pay the school. It’s not much compared to the US, and we always get financial aid, which differs:
When you study and live at home: ± €93
When you study and don´t live at home ± €230
When you study and your parents don’t make enough money, you can get around the €230 extra.
We can get this aid for the four years that our study takes (which is usually 4 years, sometimes longer)
Now, they want to change it to three years, which makes the fourth year a loan. Also, when you get behind more than 1 year, no matter what reason, whether it’s travelling, sickness or study switch, you have to pay €5000 as tuition money, and the school has to pay the government €3000.
The potential results of this could be that schools will give out diploma’s easier and faster to avoid that. Or that students need the rest of their lives to pay back the debts.
Please do keep in mind that this, compared to our system and what it used to be, is a huge step back. Compared to the US system… well…yeah….
Anyway, that was why we were protesting...
Wat grappig, ik zag eerst op de sneeuwfoto's dat je waarschijnlijk dichtbij mij woont in Amsterdam, en nu sta ik ook op jouw foto's van het studentenprotest :). Internet is a creepy small world!
ReplyDelete