News

7 July 2025 

The Ombudsman Institution appealed to the Minister of Education, Krasimir Valchev, urging him to change the methodology for determining student tuition fees to ensure that they are socially acceptable and predictable throughout the years of study.

The letter to the minister was prompted by dozens of complaints from students expressing their outrage at yet another drastic increase in student tution fees. They point to extremely high tuition fees for a number of majors, both for fee-paying and state-funded students.

“We understand that in connection with the increase in subsidies for students, there is also an element of administrative pressure to raise fees, but in reality they are too high and, according to citizens, even unaffordable for many families,” writes Dr. Aysun Avdjiev, Secretary General of the Ombudsman Institution.

 He warns that it is unacceptable for young people to tolerate such practices on the part of higher education institutions. Students say that this increase puts them in an impossible situation – “to discontinue their studies, despite the time and effort they have invested, or to be forced to pay an exorbitant fee that does not meet the standards for affordable education.” They note that “the fact that the changes are taking place in the middle of the academic year, without sufficient prior notice or opportunity to prepare, is particularly disturbing.”

“I would like to point out that the national Ombudsman Institution finds the increase unacceptable, as it has a deterrent effect on access to higher education for a significant group of young people. This drastic increase also carries the risk of a mass outflow of students from majors that are said to have insufficient candidates, such as physics, chemistry, philosophy, medicine, etc.,” emphasizes Dr. Aysun Avdjev.

He adds that, according to university rectors, the tuition fees currently in place should be reduced by at least half so that young people's access to higher education is not restricted.

“Regarding the measures taken so far to reduce tuition fees by 25%, it is considered that this reduction is not sufficient,” Avdjiev emphasises.

The Secretary General also draws attention to another worrying fact, namely that the increase in tution fees in recent years has outpaced the incomes of a large proportion of citizens and reduced students' chances of completing their education.