Comment on Welp.
mumblerfish@lemmy.world 21 hours agoI was around when they introduced it. They basically killed some programs because it went from a few students to none. Because why would you pay for a Swedish uni noone heard of instead of a bit more for a famous uni. It was a stupid policy.
LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 18 hours ago
To be fair, I see the argument. It is tax-paid, so you want to reserve it for people who are likely to pay future taxes.
mumblerfish@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Why are rich expats more likely to pay taxes in sweden in the future than expats who could not afford tuition?
LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 9 hours ago
They are not, which is why they charge them upfront. But people with a residence permit or citizenship are much more likely to stay long-term.
I have no strong opinion whether that is the right choice, tbh. I see it at my Uni, a lot of foreign students study here and the majority then leaves the country again. Which is fair, but the idea of tax-funded education is, well, it’s tax-funded, so I am more or less directly paying for their education. Is that good/bad/worth it or not? I’m not sure.
Also, I feel like the majority of foreign students that come here just for a degree are already from wealthy backgrounds. I know I’m on dangerous “feelings, not facts” territory, but I get a lot of “rich kid who didn’t get into a good uni in their home country” vibes. The poorer foreign students are usually super smart and got in via a scholarship or the likes.