Panic as Universities are set to implement new fees

NCHE chief Pamela Abbott

KIGALI - Private students at all higher learning institutions may be charged more than twice the amount of tuition fees they have been paying.

The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has set the baseline for tuition fees at higher learning education at Frw530,000 and the maximum at Frw1,325,000 annually depending on the courses they undertake.

In a letter addressed to all tertiary institutions in January, the NCHE categorized tuition fees in six different bands.

Normally, Rwandan private university students have been paying Frw300, 000 annually, while only foreign students have been paying Frw500, 000.

But now under the new arrangement, private students in business, human, and social sciences are classified into the first category and will pay Frw530, 000.

Students in courses of education, journalism and mathematics will have to pay Frw600, 000. Those undertaking engineering, health and computer courses will have to part with up to Frw747, 000, while those offering medicine will pay the highest, equivalent to Frw1, 325,000. [more] www.newtimes.co.rw