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Lawmakers agree on tuition increase

In a rare show of solidarity, opposition and ruling party lawmakers yesterday expressed support for the education ministry's plan to hike university tuition rates by up to 3 percent, but added that tuition rises should only be allowed for tertiary institutions not already receiving copious subsidies.

The Ministry of Education announced on Monday night that tuition rates at colleges and universities nationwide could rise by up to 3 percent during the 2007-2008 academic year.

The decision follows a resolution by university presidents in January calling on the education ministry to allow a 10 percent rise in tuition rates at public and private institutions.

University chiefs had previously agitated for scrapping government-regulated tuition rates altogether and allowing colleges and universities to set their own tuition fees, but later settled on the resolution calling for tuition hikes of up to 10 percent amid fierce debate on the issue.

Student groups have slammed efforts to raise tuition, saying that even a slight rise could shut out disadvantaged students from tertiary institutions.

Tuition reform proponents like National Taiwan University (NTU) President Lee Si-chen (李嗣涔), however, have said that any hike would coincide with more aid to cash-strapped students.

"Universities need to be rewarded for educating well, and those that don't should be phased out," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said yesterday in the legislature's Education and Culture committee.

"It's not fair for both good and bad schools to enjoy a hike in their tuition rates," she said, referring to the education ministry's plan to allow only those schools whose finances and academics are "properly managed," and that demonstrate a need to raise fees, to boost their tuition rates.

Lu and other lawmakers yesterday, including pan-green legislators, supported the education ministry's plan to permit tuition hikes as a reward to properly managed schools in financial straits. They also supported tuition rate decreases of up to 1 percent as punishment for tertiary institutions whose fiscal and academic affairs suffer from "egregious errors."

Asked by lawmakers which schools would be allowed to raise their tuition rates and which schools would be forced to shave off a percentage point or less, Vice Minister of Education Lu Mu-lin (呂木琳) said the review process by his ministry was ongoing.

An education ministry statement said a review committee would evaluate school operations and decide how to adjust tuition rates, if at all, at a future date.
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