Court decision on institutional rate end of November
Do TiU-students who pay the higher institutional rate pay too much for their education? That will become clear around the 28th of November, when the judge will decide upon the case brought before them by the Foundation Collective Action Universities (in Dutch: SCAU).
Last Friday, a lawsuit was held on the initiative of SCAU against eight Dutch universities, among which TiU. The trial was about the question how the institutional rate should be determined by the universities. The SCAU thinks the rates are too high and that the actual costs are much lower. For some studies, TiU asks an institutional rate of 10.590 euro (for non-EER students).
According to the SCAU, the universities had no clear answer how the rate was calculated.
The lawyer of the SCAU, Maarten Kalkwiek, argued in his plea that the universities abused their discretionary power by using an institutional rate of 10.590 euro, said university magazine Folia. According to Kalkwiek, the universities exclusively have the right to charge rates which cover the costs. This would be 4500 euro.
The lawyers of the universities believe that universities have the freedom to determine the institutional rate for themselves. The charged fee is allowed to be higher than the actual costs. Also, the SCAU would not have taken into account the research costs.
