Tuition fees about to be imposed in Germany

German students may have to pay tuition fees after the High Court ruled that individual states have the right to introduce fees.

The decision reached by the Federal Constitutional Court on 26 February, which overturned the ban on tuition fees introduced by the Social Democrat Party (SDP) led ruling coalition two years ago, opened the way for states to start charging students.

Bavaria may try to introduce fees by the end of the year. Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, and Saarland are also keen to start charging students. In Baden-Württemberg students may have to pay by spring in 2006, according to a weekly news magazine, Der Spiegel.

But the …