Government supports RSU’s participation in new funding model pilot project

On 3 December, the Government decided that Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) can also launch a pilot project on institutional funding for higher education.

The pilot project will allow RSU to have more flexibility in determining the principles of fees, meaning which students can study free of charge, for a partial fee, or for a full fee. These decisions will vary depending on the scale, cost price and demand for different study programmes, explains the Ministry of Education and Science. 

As a result of the pilot project, RSU will be expected to increase its revenue from research projects by 20%. RSU will also be expected to increase the number of graduates in strategic specialisations by 5%, whereas the number of leaving students should be reduced by 5%. More than half of the University’s graduates are expected to have acquired high-level digital skills.

The Government has already granted permission to Riga Technical University (RTU) and the University of Latvia (LU) to implement such a pilot project.

On Tuesday, the Government also adopted a decree providing for the allocation of €1.714 million to RTU, €1.219 million to LU and €365,456 to RSU for the implementation of the pilot project this year. The universities will have to use the funding until the end of the year. 

The Ministry of Education and Science has set as a prerequisite, a well-developed system of financial planning and accounting for the introduction of institutional funding - it should provide information on the cost per a graduate, student or a study programme group in order to track the use of state budget funds and make informed, grounded decisions on tuition fees or fee discounts. The Ministry of Education and Science will also consider the University's governance, financial system and management system.

Next year, the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences and the Latvian Academy of Culture could start launching the pilot project.