Top education body urges private universities on additional fee

ANKARA

Türkiye’s top higher education body has urged private universities in response to reports that they are charging an annual fee from students who extend their studies or fail courses rather than charging on a per-course basis.

"It has been previously decided by the Higher Education General Assembly that no additional fee shall be charged for lower-level courses that a student failed and needs to retake," said a statement by the country’s Higher Education Board (YÖK).

On the other hand, the statement said that a large number of students filed a complaint about that some private universities are requesting an annual fee from students who extend their studies, instead of charging for the courses they fail to complete within the regular duration of their education. The statement also informed that the implementation of the relevant decision by universities will be audited.

The board previously warned private universities regarding their exorbitant tuition fees. 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.

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.