Fernando Alexandre, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, stated this Friday, November 28, that the unfreezing of tuition fees is “a bad decision for Portuguese higher education” and means “a historic setback”.
Speaking in Braga, on the sidelines of the closing session of the 20th anniversary of the Iberian International Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Fernando Alexandre highlighted that the decision will make higher education institutions “dependent on the Government”.
“Institutions dependent on the Government are institutions without autonomy, without the ability to innovate, without the ability to compete internationally. I regret it, this is a historic step backwards and goes from left to right, to the extreme right, and, therefore, I feel sorry because it is a bad decision for Portuguese higher education”he said.
On Wednesday, during a vote on the State Budget, a PS proposal was approved to maintain the freeze on higher education fees in 2026/2027, which would be confirmed in plenary, with the favorable votes of all benches, with the exception of those of the PSD, CDS-PP and Liberal Initiative.
The Government intended to increase undergraduate tuition fees from 697 to 710 euros and unfreeze master’s fees.
“[O chumbo] It is a decision, in my opinion, that is wrong and will clearly harm our higher education system and the development of the country (…). This is a constraint on the development of our higher education system, I have no doubts about that, it will limit the ability of our institutions to compete internationally”, the Minister of Education stressed today.
He recalled that Portuguese higher education institutions “have a great demand for international students”, because “they are one of the best internationally”, but that now “they will no longer be able to compete with their international rivals, because they are limited” by this Parliament decision.
He pointed out that what matters in access to higher education is social action, adding that in December the Government will present a new model, with the tuition fee being paid in full.
“No student is excluded from higher education because of tuition fees”, he guaranteed.
He also mentioned that the main reason for the difficulty in accessing higher education is not the tuition fee, but rather the accommodation, pointing out that an investment of “hundreds of millions of euros” is also being made in this area, to make an additional 11 thousand beds available next year.
Regarding INL, Fernando Alexandre said that it is an infrastructure that shows the importance and benefits of collaboration between Portugal and Spain and that has encouraged other partnerships between the two countries.
As examples, he pointed to the Atlantic Constellation, with more than 20 satellites, 11 of which are on the Portuguese side, an Artificial Intelligence factory that will be based in Barcelona, or a new center that will be built in Cáceres, replicating the INL model.
“This way, [colaboração entre Portugal e Espanha]we were able to build projects with more impact, whether from a scientific point of view or from an innovation point of view”, concluded Fernando Alexandre.