Financing the Students’ Future - FinSt Rok Primožič, Vice-chairperson, ESU Final Conference, Brussels

The European Students’ Union Umbrella organization of 45 national unions of students from 38 countries, represents more than 11 million students Formed in 1982, previously named WESIB and later ESIB Promote the educational, social, economic and cultural interests of students at a European level Work towards relevant organizations and processes, for example the European Union, the Bologna-Process, Council of Europe, UNESCO and OECD.

Why?

What is it all about? “FinST” is a comprehensive research exercise on the landscape of HE funding systems in Europe and their fitness for purpose, in combination with the effects of the student unions’ policies on funding.

Aims Increasing the knowledge of the effects of financing systems in Europe over students’ population; Enhancing the capacity for ESU members, national unions of students (NUS), with regard to active involvement in higher education funding reforms; Using the creative potential of NUS and together with the Research Team and the Advisory Board brainstorm on possible scenarios of developing funding mechanisms at the national level; Identifying students’ perspective in a more detail.

Target groups Students‘representatives National associations of students Policy makers Actors in higher education (stakeholders)

Project partners (Consortium) ESU (ESIB)- European Students’ Union EÜL – Eesti Üliõpilaskondade Liit ÖH-Die Österreichische HochschülerInnenschaft NUS UK- National Union of Students (UK) HIS- Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH

FINST Deliverables 1. FINST Action Toolkit 2. Research Compendium: Mapping and survey Hypotheses Research Articles Future Funding Scenarios

Events and capacity building Launch Conference (Tallin, 2-4 of May 2011) Consultations Seminar (Liverpool, of November 2011) Student Exchanges (in UK, Austria and Estonia) European Training (Bucharest, of April 2012) Final Conference (28-29 of January 2013)

1. Mapping and hypotheses Themes selected ▫National HE funding systems ▫Public funding of students ▫Student income & expenditure ▫Impacts & outcomes Key sources: ▫OECD Education At a Glance 2010 ▫Eurostat/EUROSTUDENT: The Bologna Process and in Higher Education in Europe: key indicators on the social dimension and mobility. ▫EUROSTUDENT project data

Hypothesis 1 Most of the countries observed are using cost sharing to cover increasing higher educational costs. cost sharing - the combined contribution from public and private sources in the financing of higher education

Hypothesis 2 “Higher education systems that have higher tuition fees also have higher public student support level.”

Source: Eurostat. Bologna process in HE, Study Framework, Statistical Table B.2a,b HEI's income of private sources (households & other private) as a percentage of all public and private sources

Public financial aid as grants to tertiary students as a percentage of public expenditure on tertiary education Source: Eurostat. Bologna process in HE, Study Framework, Statistical Table B.2c

Hypothesis 3 “In most of the countries observed the public support to students is higher than student´s private contribution to HEI´s.”

Contribution to student´s income by state sources as percentage of student´s total income Student´s expenditure on tuition and other fees as a percentage of total main expenditure components

Contribution to students income by state sources - student´s expenditure on tuition and other fees

Hypothesis 4 “In most of the countries observed, levels of public investment correlate between levels of participation”

Financing of Higher Education Financing of teaching and research in HEIs Financing of students

Diversity of systems Different understanding of basic questions Different financial and macroeconomic situation Different social and economic policies Some typologies are possible

Cost-sharing

Tuition fees

Repayable forms of student support

Funding gap is widening

What next?