University tuitions skyrocket, students in dire straits

ISTANBUL

Students who have had difficulty in paying the increased tuition fees at private universities now have been surprised by the new exorbitant increases announced for next academic year.

The increases in tuition fees of private universities exceeding 200 percent have been drawing the reaction of students since the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic year.

In 2022, after a university in Beylikdüzü district of Istanbul announced a hike, this issue was brought to court and the court has taken a precedent-setting decision that a maximum increase of 79.60 percent can be made.

Before the start of the academic year, the Higher Education Council (YÖK) President Erol Özvar had called on 79 private universities, including vocational schools, to reduce tuition fees.

However, according to the regulation on Private Higher Education Institutions, universities are not restricted in setting tuition fees. Therefore, most universities can raise tuition fees at exorbitant rates.

Despite the warnings from the council, private universities continued to raise tuition fees at high rates, ignoring the requests of students who stated that they will have difficulties in paying their fees, and asked for a postponement or a reduction in the rate of increase.

Some students claimed that they might have to drop out of school as they cannot keep up with the expenses and tuition fees.

It was learned that there are universities that set annual fees up to 400,000 Turkish Liras for the 2022-2023 academic year.

A second-year midwifery student with a scholarship of 50 percent of the tuition fee stated that in 2022, she paid 24,000 liras for the academic year, and this year the cost went up to 51,000 liras, exceeding a 100 percent increase.

Stressing that most of her schoolmates cannot get grants or scholarships from foundations as they are private school students, she pointed out that she and some of her friends actually pay their own tuition fees by working outside school hours.