By Rebekka Walser
Not too long ago, AUC updated the “Tuition Fees and Costs” page. From this September onwards, incoming international students (non-European Union /European Economic Area) paying the non-statutory tuition fees will be required to pay more than 20,000 euros a year in tuition fees; an increase of more than 30 percent.
According to a written statement obtained by The Herring from Ingrid van Loon, AUC’s Head of Operations and Finance, “The University of Amsterdam (UvA) has more or less required AUC […] to set the tuition fee for non-EEA students at a level that is cost-covering.” This means that the fees for non-EU/EEA students need to match what AUC receives from EU/EEA students in the form of tuition fees and government subsidies. As the latter is exclusively meant for EU/EEA students, “part of the cost of educating non-EU/EEA students would effectively be subsidised by the funding intended for EU/EEA students” if the fees for the former are not set to a level that is cost-covering.
Despite ending 2025 with a surplus of more than 500,000 euros, van Loon explained that the tuition fee increase had been decided in April 2025, and therefore predates the knowledge about the surplus. But rather than symbolising the start of a reversal of AUC’s long-standing budget deficit, it is expected that the surplus was of a “largely incidental” nature; a result of several different factors. The government subsidies were based on the high number of students enrolled two years ago, while expenses had decreased due to financial measures implemented by the previous Dean and a lack of contribution to the AUC scholarship fund (ASF). Additionally, AUC received temporary government funding through the Workload & Talent/Bontenbal budgets in 2025, as well as UvA funding due to AUC’s status as an interdisciplinary programme.
The tuition fee increase is perceived as worrying news to some students, particularly those paying non-EU/EEA fees. Mila Mahomet, a first-year Science major who is an Australian citizen, said that it would have been much harder for her to convince her parents to let her attend AUC if she had been affected. “15,000 was already so much money for us […] So 20,000 a year would have been way too much,” Mahomet stated.
This sentiment was also echoed by Komari Machida, a Japanese citizen and first-year Science major. She stated that “[I] probably wouldn’t have come here because [she] just won’t be able to finance it”. Machida currently receives a university scholarship and another one from the Japanese government. A stark increase in tuition means that her “parents would probably have to take out a loan”.
Both Mahomet and Machida also expressed concerns about the effects the tuition fees would have on the diversity of the student body. According to college data from 2024, 20% of AUC’s students are non-EU/EEA citizens, but Mahomet believes that the change would “exclude a big group of people” from attending AUC as its tuition would become unaffordable. Machida also worries that this would cause the college to become even more “Western or European centric” due to the lack of diversity caused. Meanwhile, international students who continue to enrol at AUC would likely be significantly wealthier, which Machida fears would “further isolate some students who are not from a very privileged background”.
The concerns stated by Mahomet and Machida are likely to be exacerbated further as the ASF will not be awarding new scholarships for the 2026/2027 academic year. This leaves prospective international students with no AUC-linked financial aid options, as the Talent Fellowship (a yearly stipend also awarded by the ASF) is only open to students who completed their secondary education in the Netherlands.
In her statement, van Loon stressed that the tuition fee increase will not affect current students: “As long as they complete their degree within four years, their tuition fee will never increase by more than 5%.” However, the effect this decision will have on AUC and its student body remains to be seen.
When asked whether she had a message to share with AUC management and the individuals who had reached this decision, Machida stated she would advise those involved to consider what they would like AUC to become: an “elite institution” or “an inclusive one where all perspectives are valued”.
The Herring 