The National Assembly will consider this week the amendments to the Higher Education Act, which avoid a sudden increase in fees for paid students, and the amendments will come into force for the upcoming academic year. This was announced by the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev during a meeting with representatives of the Student Council and the Student Diplomatic Club at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski“, which was held at the initiative of the Ministry of Education.
He recalled that in the last two years the state has significantly increased the subsidy for higher education institutions, and its increase was also tied to the component for the quality of education. It is high in many professional fields at Sofia University, which is why the subsidy for higher education is also increasing significantly. However, the fee for paid students is also tied to its size and, according to the current Higher Education Act, it should also increase proportionally.
Therefore, legislative changes were initiated, which would make the fee for a paid student equal to 60% of the funds provided for the maintenance of the education of a state-ordered student in the relevant professional field (and not 100%, as is currently the case). Another amendment stipulates that the fee for already admitted students cannot be increased by more than 20% compared to the previous academic year.
There are about 900-950 students in paid education at Sofia University, and those in state-ordered programs - 20,000, announced the chairwoman of the Student Council of Sofia University, Mihaela Koseva. She expressed concerns that the enrollment of admitted students begins on July 11, during which they must pay their fee for the first semester. If the changes to the law are not adopted by then, this fee will be formed according to the currently valid normative act and will be significantly higher. Minister Valchev is committed to appealing to the rectors of higher education institutions not to collect higher fees before the adoption of the legal changes. He has already spoken with the rector of Sofia University, Prof. Georgi Valchev, who has assured him that no inflated amounts will be collected from students.
Minister Valchev pointed out that higher education is becoming more expensive everywhere in the world. However, according to him, students should have predictability and if there is a fee increase, it should be smooth, not sudden. This is planned to be included in future changes to the Higher Education Act.
The meeting was also attended by the chairman of the Student Diplomatic Club at Sofia University, Denis Vassilev, representatives of the Student Council at Sofia University, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Acad. Nikolay Vitanov and directors of directorates in the Ministry of Education and Culture.