Sweden cancels free policy for undergraduates and postgraduates in non-EU countries.

20 1 1 The number of China students going to Sweden dropped sharply in the autumn school season. The reason is that since this autumn, Sweden has cancelled the free undergraduate and postgraduate policies in non-EU countries. For China students, this means that the average annual cost of studying abroad exceeds100000 RMB. Sweden has a population of only 9 million, but it has many world-renowned automobile and aircraft manufacturers. Developed industries are also attractive to many international students, but Swedish industries need international students more.

"We need China students and Indian students." Frederic Roux Rusek, director of the master program of wireless communication technology at Lund University, said, "There is a shortage of engineers in Sweden, and it is very meaningful for Sweden to leave outstanding international students. Nowadays, Swedish students always say that they prefer the job of dealing with people, even if they are waiters in cafes. In the long run, Swedish companies will move abroad if they can't recruit people. "

International students can also promote value-added education. "When students are looking for a job, a good selling point is that they have studied and interacted with students from dozens of countries on several continents." Ulf Elg, director of the Master of Brand Management Program at Lund University, said.

Trade unions representing teachers wrote in their comments: Understand the demand for fees, but be wary that fees will eventually point to local students.

This view is supported by Swedish student organizations. In Sweden, student organizations are a force to be reckoned with, and there are student representatives in all decision-making bodies of every university. "We are very opposed to charging. We believe that receiving education is a basic right, not something that can be bought and sold like clothes and shoes. " Moa Meiwuman, president of the Swedish Student Union, said, "Free education is something we are proud of."

Under the great controversy, the Swedish government's charging schedule was pushed back and forth. After two sessions of government, it was not implemented until the fall semester of 20 1 1.

Free replacement for high quality.

Although there is strong opposition to charging in Sweden, there are many supporters. In the voting on the fee bill, the overwhelming majority of members voted in favor. The four political parties in power and the largest opposition Social Democratic Party all agreed to charge international students.

"The main reason for supporters is that Sweden should compete in the international education market with high-quality education standards, rather than relying solely on free as a selling point." Anna, political adviser to the Minister of Education, said, "In the past, we did not charge tuition fees for international students who could have paid tuition fees; But now, we can save some resources to improve the quality of education and provide scholarships for outstanding students. "

Although there is no absolute contradiction between free and high quality, free does nourish some inferior people objectively. All universities in Sweden, as long as they have students, can get corresponding government funding. This has cultivated a number of universities with poor qualifications. They can't recruit enough students in their own country, but they can attract a large number of international students for free, thus getting government funding.

Naturally, in this policy change, these schools are most seriously affected, and many international projects have to be stopped.

Famous schools that can provide quality education are relatively optimistic. "As long as we can provide enough scholarships to students, we have no objection to charging." Corsten, vice president of Uppsala University, said, "After students pay tuition fees, our responsibilities are more clear and it is more necessary to provide them with a good education."

Some observers believe that the change of higher education policy in Sweden, even in northern Europe, is actually in line with the challenges and constant adjustments faced by welfare countries in recent years.

In 2006, the Social Democratic Party, which had been in power for 65 of the past 74 years and adhered to the high welfare model, stepped down, and four center-right parties formed a new government. As soon as the new government came to power, the goal was "welfare surplus".

Molly, a China writer living in Sweden, also believes that the reform of Swedish welfare system and the "right turn" of policy are one of the reasons for the charging policy. According to her observation, the "catalyst" of this fee is Denmark, a Nordic country close to Sweden, which began to charge tuition fees to students from non-EU countries in 2006.

Today, with fewer and fewer countries providing free education, it is easy for taxpayers to feel psychologically unbalanced if they insist on providing free education to international students. About 95% of Swedish students need to pay tuition. "Why do we Swedish taxpayers have to pay for foreign students?" Cecilia, who works in chalmers university of technology, said, "It is normal to study abroad and pay tuition."

Start to pay attention to university rankings

All walks of life in Sweden thought they were psychologically prepared, but the sharp drop in international students exceeded expectations.

According to official data, in the autumn semester of 20 1 1, less than 1300 students from non-EU countries paid to study in Sweden, compared with more than16,000 in the previous year. China students account for a large part of the lost students.

Lund University is very successful in recruiting international students. Thanks to good promotion, the share of international students in Lund University has increased from 6% to 18%. However, the absolute number is still unsatisfactory: the target of enrolling 400 non-EU students is only 207.

"Our goal is to return to the previous number of students, which requires great efforts." Corsten, vice president of Uppsala University, said, "We should not only improve the quality of education, but also tell others about our quality. Academic quality can be measured by various data indicators, such as publicizing the number of our Nobel Prize winners; But is there a simple way to tell you the quality of teaching? Therefore, Swedish universities have generally begun to pay attention to university rankings, and everyone pays great attention to their position. "

"However, good quality is still the best marketing." Corsten stressed.

Many universities in Sweden have proud educational quality and scientific research environment. "The environment here is very suitable for scientific research, with complete facilities and sufficient funds." Pang Hong Yan, a doctoral student in molecular biology at Uppsala University, said, "What takes three days to complete in China can be completed in one morning here, because scientific research and industry are closely linked, and the company can provide protein and kits for experiments. Textbooks and documents are fresh, and the Chinese version in China is generally available two or three years later. "

But obviously, in this era of international competition in the education market, the fragrance of wine is also afraid of the deep alley. Even Karolinska Medical College, the world's top medical school responsible for selecting the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, has set up an international cooperation office to promote it, and specially recruited several foreign students from China to open their own blogs, introducing their study and life in Sweden and answering questions from applicants.

In order to attract international talents, in addition to setting up various scholarships, the Swedish government has also introduced a more relaxed labor immigration law: students can work legally after paying tuition fees, and international students who find jobs before graduation can change their student visas into work visas, and the number of visas is unlimited. In addition, the government is still discussing whether to allow international students to stay in Sweden for six months after their studies, so as to facilitate them to find jobs.

The Higher Education Policy Committee of the Swedish Liberal Party even suggested that international students of science and engineering could be exempted from their tuition fees if they promised to stay in Sweden for several years after their studies to give full play to their human values, but this was opposed by many people.

"Sweden is definitely not a place where you can get a diploma at low cost after collecting tuition fees." Li Sichao, a student from China, said, "But if you really want to study something, especially in Swedish advantageous disciplines such as biomedicine and engineering technology, then this is still a good choice."