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Reduce the huge and unjustified differences between different tuition rates and increase funding for social studies. From 2022 to 2027, about 35 million. – The Ministry announces these Education and Science objectives in a press release.
Raising standard prices is just the first step
These changes will be possible if the project proposed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports on the calculation of regulatory enrollment fees is approved.
“Without adequate funding for higher education, we cannot achieve quality: a better study base, living conditions for students, higher salaries for professors and researchers, higher incentive scholarships for good students.
Higher education is financed through study baskets. Based on the number of students admitted by an institution of higher education, when a student is admitted to a state-funded place, the state pays the tuition. Therefore, to raise the quality of studies, it is necessary to increase the regulatory cost of studies. This increase is only the first step, state funding must continue to increase and the principles of funding for studies must fundamentally change, ”says Jurgita Šiugždinienė, Minister of Education, Science and Sports.
Funding per student is one of the lowest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In Lithuania, the state allocates 4,272 euros per student (according to data from 2017), while the OECD average was 9,393 euros. Fewer studies are funded only in Bulgaria, Latvia, Serbia and Greece.
“Currently, the standard tuition fees applied to pay for state-funded student studies only partially cover the costs of organizing studies. The smallest and most inadequate state funding is for social science studies, so it is necessary to increase funding for these studies, ”says J. Šiugždinienė.
There are cases where universities charge students who pay a higher price for their studies than the state and thus pay more for state-funded students. “It should not be like that. And this is the only way out: increase the cost of studies so that the state pays a price for the training of students that covers the costs of higher education institutions in training students,” he says Minister J. Šiugždinienė.
2020 Adoption – Regardless of State Needs
According to the minister, study places, in accordance with the Law of Science and Studies, must be planned taking into account the needs of economic, social and cultural development of the state and evaluating the employment indicators of graduates. The number of places financed by the state would decrease only in the fields of social sciences, to which in 2020 the number of places increased up to 2.4 times.
By 2020, more than 3,000 young people dropped out of state-funded places and re-entered universities for free places. However, most entered the fields of study of the social sciences (law, social sciences, business, and public administration) where the number of state-funded places increased without regard to the needs of the state and the market. Therefore, what was done in 2020 can be seen as an increase in unreasonable expectations for students and graduates.
“The State has to decide: is it really satisfied with cheap studies or does it seek to compete in the world and increase the quality of studies? We must openly admit that a large proportion of social science graduates today are in jobs that do not require a higher education degree, ”says J. Šiugždinienė.
According to OECD statistics, law and business administration graduates account for 27.2% in Lithuania. – This is one of the highest rates among OECD countries. In which countries is this figure even higher? In Brazil, where it stands at 35.2 percent, in Costa Rica, 33.6 percent, and in Russia, 32.5 percent. Meanwhile, this indicator is significantly lower in the following countries: Sweden (13.5%), Iceland (15%), South Korea (16.2%), Austria (16.3%).
About 3.4 percent graduate in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics in Lithuania. 17% in the UK, 10.1% in France, 9.9% in the United States, 9.8% in Canada and around 9% in Ireland and Austria. The lowest number of graduates in these study areas is found in Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Costa Rica (1.1-2.4%).
Graduates choose not the most promising studies but the cheapest
A survey of Lithuanian students conducted a few years ago showed that only 40 percent. after graduation he would choose the same specialty. Why is this happening? Because prospective students are unaware of career opportunities, science and science education is not attractive, and therefore graduates choose studies that are not always thoughtful, often less expensive.
The statistics are ruthless. Assume 84 percent. 86% of college graduates in mathematics or computer science are employed. of them in highly skilled jobs. His average income is 1,814 euros. Meanwhile, 73 percent. University graduates find employment in social sciences, but only 55% have a job requiring higher education and have an average income of € 1,211. (If we included colleges, these rates would be even worse.)
These indicators are worse than in all directions in general (59% are employed in jobs that require higher education, the average income is 1,297 euros). With less than three-quarters employed and just over half employed, only about 40% are in jobs that require higher education. Social science graduates perform jobs that require higher education.
Funding for masters and universities would increase
These inequalities are also due to the fact that currently tuition rates in universities are grouped into 8 groups. Prices in the lowest groups are unjustifiably behind others: the gap between the highest and lowest prices is currently more than 9 times.
“Some fields of study are devalued in this sense, they are even discarded. For example, the prices of social science studies paid by the state to higher education institutions are undeservedly much lower than in other fields. Therefore, it is planned to reduce the number of studio price groups from 8 to 5. This will reduce the differences in studio prices, which have been growing irrationally for many years, ”says J. Šiugždinienė.
Lowering the tuition fee pools would open up more opportunities for interdisciplinary studies, which has been difficult until now due to the huge differences between tuition fees. It would also increase funding for graduate studies and universities. College tuition price pools would catch up with colleges, improving students’ transition from one college to another.
This project was coordinated with the Conference of Rectors of Lithuanian Universities, the Association of Lithuanian Colleges, and took into account some of the comments made by student representations.
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