
Alexandra Ivanov, Chair of the Free Moderate Student Union, thinks that everyone who wants to study at college or university must pay out of own pocket:
"The time of the fee-free university is over."
What then are Alexandra's arguments to raise the threshold to higher studies? Swedish students take too long. In addition, more students in Sweden than in other countries also choose to study in their older days. Furthermore, Alexandra claims that the social recruitment bias does not increase at all, even if the studies are subject to fees.
It is incorrect to claim that the social recruitment bias would not be greater in countries such as the United States and Great Britain. Furthermore, there are countries that have far greater income dispersion than Sweden. That the students take a long time must have happened. But there is an important objection to that. In Sweden, we have a highly educated population, not for nothing. We have invested in something called 'lifelong learning'. Without this idea, our competitiveness would have been considerably worse. Our prosperity is largely based on us keeping up with developments and being able to carry out the structural transformations that are at hand.
In conclusion, Alexandra knows of course that fee-based studies lead to increased skewed recruitment and greater income differences. That is the very point of such a reform. But it would not win the support of the majority of the people. Then it is easier to hide this intention in moralistic statements about "incentive" and "responsibility".
PS. Here you can read more about Alexandra's neoliberal role models. DS.