Bad luck for students abroad: loan tuition not transferred at once

Minister Van Engelshoven believes that the risk of fraud is too high and the resulting costs are too high, she wrote to the House of Representatives.

For example, the student union LSVb is arguing for the possibility of transferring the amount that students can borrow to pay their tuition at one time.

At a time

For students abroad. where tuition fees must sometimes be paid in full at the beginning of the school year, this can be a boon. The loan is now paid by DUO, the organization that organizes student financing, by monthly installments.

And that does not change, reports Van Engelshoven. The costs to make the transfer immediately do not exceed the possible benefits. If they are already present, this is difficult to evaluate, according to Van Engelshoven.

About 10,000 euros

A total of 3,400 students were studying abroad and applying for a tuition loan in 2017, the minister reports. . But it is not possible to estimate whether the total amount, which is a maximum of 10,000 per academic year, should not be estimated at one time.

According to her, it is also unclear whether students cancel their studies abroad because they only be able to receive a tuition loan per month.

Increased risk of fraud

Adapting the DUO system to allow immediate transfer costs about one million. Additional inspections cost an additional half a million per year.

This is necessary because the amount of the sum makes it very tempting to quickly move 10,000 people under a false registration. This fraud would cause another half million damage, estimates the minister.