The rise in tuition fees was brought about when the higher education institutions reviewed the state budget financing and planned investments, or after the assessment of study costs.
"The RSU tuition fees have been revised on average by 12% for six study programs, for two second-level Pharmacy programs, the tuition fees have been revised more substantially, considering the the state budget funding and the planned investments in equipment and infrastructure, but for most of the programs the fees have been changed by 5% on average,” the Director of Communications at RSU Edijs Šauers explained to LETA.
The University of Latvia, on the other hand, will increase the tuition fees for all full-time first year students on both the Bachelor and the Master's programs, the spokeswoman of the university's Communication and Innovation Department Sindija Iesalniece told LETA. The tuition fees for humanities, computer science, and biology courses will not be subject to change.
Comparatively, medical-related studies will experience the largest increase in tuition fees, said Iesalniece. “Having assessed the cost of the studies, we have realized that these programs require more resources because of the need for praxis, equipment and technology in the study process," explained the LU spokeswoman.
By contrast, the tuition fees will remain unchanged in the higher education institution “Turība”, the spokeswoman told the agency.
The fees will also remain unchanged at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, except for one program, the fee of which will be rounded and increase by 1%, said the head of the university's communication department Lana Janmere.
At RTU, the tuition fees will increase only for a small number of program, which the RTU senate approved this April. "The tuition fees were increased only for a few programs, where it was necessary to cover the rising costs – utilities, information technology solution services. The average rise in tuition fees is around 50 euros per year,” said the Vice Rector of the RTU studies Uldis Sukovskis.
