University says it had choice but to raise fees

University says it had choice but to raise fees

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bogor/Yogyakarta

University of Indonesia (UI) has dismissed the recent protest
staged students over what they called costly admission fees,
saying the decision was a consequence of its status as an
autonomous institution.

As of this year, new students at UI must pay an admission fee
of between Rp 5 million (US$562) and Rp 25 million. In addition,
those taking natural sciences pay a tuition fee of Rp 1.475
million per semester and those majoring in social sciences, Rp
1.275 million a semester.

UI director of academic affairs Muhammad Anis said the
university had decided to raise admission fees as the annual
subsidy from the government, which amounts to Rp 76 billion, was
not enough to cover the cost of maintaining buildings and other
infrastructure, and paying employees.

Article 24 of Law No. 20/2003 on the national education system
allows universities to collect public funds and manage
themselves.

Effective this year, a UI student needs between Rp 2.5 million
to Rp 9.2 million annually, depending on their choice of study.
Students may have their entrance fee waived if they submit a
letter from their subdistrict chief stating that they come from a
poor family. They must enclose their parents' salary slips and
the last three month's electricity bills to be eligible for
special consideration.

Like other state universities, the UI employs qualified
lecturers and professors. Anis said the UI also provided students
with computers, laboratories and research facilities.

"We understand the students' protest, but we have no choice.
We need to stay up to date in order to compete with other
universities," said Anis, citing the high cost of computers and
other equipment.

UI students pay more than those at the Bogor Institute of
Agriculture (IPB) in West Java, who pay between Rp 2.5 million
and Rp 3.3 million per year. The IPB receives a government
subsidy of Rp 120 billion a year, allowing it to scrap admission
fees. It only charge new students a building maintenance fee of
between Rp 100,000 and Rp 3 million.

However, when compared to students of Gadjah Mada University
(UGM) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, the cost of education at the
UI is slightly lower.

Like the UI, the UGM obliges students to pay admission fees of
up to Rp 20 million. Aside from a fixed tuition fee amounting to
Rp 500,000 per semester, UGM students of natural sciences have to
pay Rp 75,000 per credit, and social science students, Rp 65,000
per credit.

UGM students' yearly fees range from Rp 3.52 million to Rp
9.15 million.

Protests have not been heard from students of the UGM -- the
country's oldest state university -- over the cost of education
there.

When compared to students of private universities, which do
not enjoy a government subsidy, UI students pay less.

New students of Trisakti University in Grogol, West Jakarta,
for example, have to pay admission fees ranging from Rp 6.5
million to Rp 45 million, depending on the results of their
entrance tests and the schools they go to.

They pay a total of between Rp 10 million and Rp 24 million
per year -- depending on their majors -- as they are charged
fixed tuition fees of between Rp 1.75 million and Rp 4 million
per semester, plus Rp 110,000 for each credit unit they take.

Admission fees at another private university, Atma Jaya, range
from between Rp 6.5 million and Rp 55 million, depending on the
results of a student's entrance test. In total students pay
between Rp 7 million and Rp 23 million per year.