Academics’ salaries lag far behind tuition fees

ISTANBUL

In the current academic year, private universities are charging outrageous tuition fees to students, despite the fact that some faculty members are paid less than their counterparts at public universities.

In general, the adverse impacts of the current economic conditions have also been reflected in the tuition fees of private universities.

After private universities in Türkiye started to announce the tuition fees for the 2023-24 academic year, Koç University especially drew attention on social media with its exorbitant figure.

The university's tuition fee for students placed this year was determined as 520,000 Turkish Liras for all programs except medicine, while the tuition for the medicine faculty was recorded as a whopping 716,000 liras.

In the meantime, Sabancı University set the tuition fees for all new students at 510,000 liras. Last year, this figure was announced as 240,750 liras, marking an increase of more than 100 percent.

Pointing out that the tuition fees of private universities used to be included in the university preference guide Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) prepares each year, expert Salim Ünsal stated that by excluding the fees from the guide, the country’s top exam body has “paved the way for arbitrary price hikes” and the fees of each university should have been included in detail in the guide as in the past.

Regardless of the fact that private institutions charge astronomical tuition fees each year, their academic staff receive significantly lower pay than at public universities and face a workload beyond their duties.

On top of that, some academics have stated that their salaries are not paid on time and not in one single payment.

Private Universities Solidarity Association (VÜDAM) explained this inequality in salaries with examples in a statement on its social media account, noting that while the salary of a research assistant reached 19,000 liras in public universities in January 2023, it only ranged from 10,500 – 15,000 liras in some private universities.