Mur to rectors: 'Fees too high in 9 Italian universities'

The fees charged by some Italian universities to their students are too high: this is why the Ministry of Universities - aware that the issue is delicate because on the one hand the autonomy of the universities is at stake, and on the other hand the contribution cannot be too high, on pain of compromising the right to study - has first set up a monitoring system and then, given the results, sent a request to the Rectors' Conference to quickly draw up a proposal to break the deadlock.

Dal monitoraggio del ministero, emerge che gli atenei che eccedono nella tassazione e sono quindi fuori norma sono: il Politecnico di Milano (34,81%), l'Università dell'Insubria (27,87%) e la Ca' Foscari a Venezia (24,65%). Altri superano il tetto per pochi punti percentuali: Milano-Bicocca (22,64%), Padova (22,06%), Iuav Venezia (20,42%), Modena e Reggio Emilia (20,32%), Pavia (20,22%) e Brescia (20,09%). Oggi il tema è stato affrontato durante la riunione della Conferenza dei rettori e questi ultimi hanno convenuto che metteranno a punto proposte e suggerimenti la cui sintesi verrà portata in tempi rapidi dalla neo presidente Laura Ramaciotti all'attenzione del ministero dell'Università. Ogni ateneo, in base all'autonomia gestionale, decide l'importo delle tasse.

A 1997 law stipulates that the revenue from student contributions cannot exceed 20% of the ordinary financing fund provided by the state, but there have always been some interpretative doubts on the issue and a decree regulating the matter has never been issued. For some time, student associations have been complaining about excessively high fees in some universities. After years of silence, even the Ministry of Universities has admitted what we have been denouncing for some time: many universities violate the law. And they often do so by resorting to ploys - such as excluding out-of-studies or international students from the calculation - to appear to be in order. This is unacceptable," say the students of the Union of University Students, who argue the need for structural intervention on public financing for universities, "because it cannot be student contributions that make up for state cuts.

The need to revise the ordinary financing fund of universities has been discussed for some time: the objective - of a work that has already begun synergistically between the CRUI and the ministry - is to eliminate a number of 'poles' to make it easier to free up resources where necessary. "We hope that the 10 billion in cuts to ministries announced in the next financial bill will not touch the University and Research Ministry," points out Avs deputy Elisabetta Piccolotti, while Azione calls for a concrete commitment to new university residences in the capital: "the numbers - they say - speak for themselves: a single room in Rome currently costs over 600 euros a month, compared to a European average of 450 euros in Barcelona or 500 in Lyon.

In the meantime, a controversy has broken out over Anvur, the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System: the ministerial decree for its revision has recently arrived in Parliament, but according to Flc CGIL it would be brought 'under strict ministerial control, with direct appointment of the president and total control over the board selection committee'. President Uricchio replies: the new regulation 'reinforces the principles of independence and organisational and operational autonomy of the Agency'.