I found [this interesting article](https://thenorwayguide.com/the-norwegian-government-want-to-implement-tuition-fees-at-universities/#Who_will_have_to_pay_the_tuition_fees), stating that the government will or want to implement tuition fees for international students.

As it suggests, the tuition has been free before except the small 600 NOK semester fee. The current government plans to implement tuition fees for foreign students and that It will do this with [State budget 2023](https://www.regjeringen.no/no/statsbudsjett/2023/id2927365/).

The budget was published on October 6, and I have no idea how to read any of this: [page1](https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/et-budsjett-for-trygghet-og-rettferdig-fordeling/id2930559/), [page2](https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/finanstalen/id2931860/)

Is it true? What does it mean for international students in Norway?

3 comments

  1. If the proposal is approved students from outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland will have to pay a tuition that at least covers the cost of providing the education, starting from autumn 2023.

    Deciding on the tuition costs for each education will be up to the different education institutions.

    The source document that contains everything that is known at this point is the budget proposal for the Ministry of Education and Research, which you can download here: [https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/62fe2b114a934b3d967626e87e4a8c7b/nn-no/pdfs/prp202220230001_kddddpdfs.pdf](https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/62fe2b114a934b3d967626e87e4a8c7b/nn-no/pdfs/prp202220230001_kddddpdfs.pdf) (Norwegian only)

  2. It will not affect those from the EEA or Switzerland, and it will not affect those already studying here. And just to be clear: This is about foreign students coming here in order to study, not a Norwegian citizen vs. foreign national living in Norway thing.

    But it will affect foreigners (outside the EEA/Switzerland) coming here specifically to go to college. They already have to pay in Sweden, Denmark and Finland, for example, so this isn’t really a radical idea. It has been coming for a long time.

    I’m not particularly fond of the idea of only wealthy foreigners being (financially) able to come here to study, but I guess the least fortunate aren’t the ones traveling to a different continent and being able to support themselves in Norway in the first place.

    Also, be aware that this is at this point only a proposal from the incumbent minority government. They need support from at least one other party, likely the Socialist Left Party, which opposes this idea. So this change could be called off, or at least altered, by the time this budget actually passes.

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