In Leiden, about two hundred Brits have started a degree course this academic year.
“There are two things we want to discuss with the Board about the possible consequences of Brexit for students”, said Nathanja van den Heuvel, a member of the PhD party PhDoc, at last week’s University Council meeting.
“We’ve noticed, after talking to British students in Leiden, that they don’t know how Brexit will affect them and they’re very worried about their situation.”
“They’re afraid that they will have to pay more than 10,000 Euros in tuition fees”, agreed Viktor Blichfeldt, the student party DSP representative.
That fear is unfounded: British students who are already studying in Leiden will only have to pay the statutory tuition fees. “If there’s a hard Brexit, British students who start a degree programme will be treated as ‘third-country nationals’ students (people who don’t come from somewhere in the EU - Ed.) and must pay the institution tuition fees”, according to the university paper on tuition fees for 2020/2021. The institution tuition fees are much higher than the statutory tuition fees.
“It’s crucial that students get that information”, Blichfeldt continued.
“The university could do more. Send the students in question an email. To be honest, information is not always easy to find on the university website.”
“If the information on the website is not reaching the students, we need to communicate about communication too”, said Van den Heuvel. VB