From August 1, 2024, amendments to the Higher Education Act will enter into force, which concern several topics related to the financial obligations of students.
From the next admission period, the rules that allow free admission to the same level of higher education at a university for the second and more times will become stricter.
According to the amendments, reimbursement of study costs will be required for repeated admission from a student who:
- upon commencement of studies has already been matriculated in a free-of-charge study programme of any higher education. It is possible to study for free in only one higher education study programme at one time. Thus, it is not possible to be enrolled at the same time, for example, in bachelor's and master's programmes, or in professional higher education and doctoral programmes;
- has already studied free of charge at the first or second level of higher education for at least 365 calendar days and less than ten years have passed from their ex-matriculation from the same level of higher education. Thus, if a student has, for example, studied for free for at least 365 calendar days or completed bachelor's studies, they will not be able to immediately start free professional higher education studies or integrated studies, and vice versa. Also, if someone has already completed free studies in integrated learning, they will not be able to start a free-of-charge master's programme (and vice versa) until ten years have passed from graduation;
- has previously been matriculated in free-of-charge study at the same level of higher education twice and it has been less than ten years since the last ex-matriculation. This means that regardless of the number of days studied free of charge, the completed semesters or the study programme, a student can start studying for the third time in a study programme of the same level of higher education only at a paid study place. For example, if a student has started bachelor's studies and has been ex-matriculated during a year and has enrolled in another study programme the following year and has quit their studies again, they will not be able to study free of charge until ten years have passed from the last time they quit their studies. And during this ten years, in addition to bachelor’s studies, they will not be able to start studying for free in professional higher education or integrated learning either.
The second amendment to the Higher Education Act, which will enter into force from the 2024/25 academic year, concerns all students, and on the basis of this, the student must pay for the credit points they declared at the beginning of the semester but did not complete, if they have studied for at least 70 days during the semester and after that voluntarily apply for ex-matriculation.
If you need any clarifications in terms of the amendments described above or if you have any other questions regarding studying and university life, feel free to contact the TalTech Student Counselling Office U04-104, studenthelp@taltech.ee, 620 2244.