On January 1, 2015, the universities in Moldova will fully switch over to financial autonomy after a period of transition of two years. In a news conference on October 10, decision makers of a number of universities said a rule of the financial autonomy is that the tuition must not be smaller than the costs incurred by the institutions per student.

First pro-rector of the Academy of Economic Studies Ala Cotelnic said the definition of autonomy is “the university’s freedom to accumulate and use financial resources by obeying the legislation and ensuring a high quality of studies”.  

“During two years, the universities have been in a period of transition to financial autonomy. On January 1, this transition period ends and we must already identify solutions for the future. We should agree a methodology for allocating financial resources to universities,” stated Ala Cotelnic.

Each country has its own mechanism for allocating money, but these mechanisms are always based on the number of students and the costs of training a student. In many countries, the state covers a part of the costs for maintaining the infrastructure needed for research.

Pro-rector of the Technical University of Moldova Larisa Bugaian said the tuition at their university represent about 60% of the costs for education, not yet for research.

Invited to the conference, professor of the Aalborg University in Denmark Romeo Turcan said the financial autonomy should not necessarily imply a rise in tuition. The Government and the universities must identify solutions in concert.