The upper house of parliament on Tuesday evening voted narrowly in favour of the government’s plan to increase college and university fees for slow students.

As expected, the ruling alliance of VVD, CDA and PVV was supported by the fundamentalist Christian SGP to pass the legislation. It was the last day before the senate summer recess.
The new rules will come into force in the next academic year and mean students who take longer than the recommended period – usually four years – to complete their degree will have to pay nearly €5,000 a year in fees, rather than €1,700.
Student organisations say they are very disappointed – particularly because the new rules will affect students who have already built up a delay.

Back-dated
The three student bodies ISO, LKvV and LSVB, are taking legal action against the application of the new rules retroactively.
Sijbolt Noorda, head of the association of Dutch universities said the law would have a lot of negative impact. ‘There are much better ways of helping students to get their degrees faster,’ he said.
The education ministry estimates some 67,000 students have already taken too long to get a degree and will have to pay extra fees to finish their studies.