Protest against tuition funds
Even before tuition funds were charged, there was an extensive student protest against them. The TUM Student Council also protested against them, organized anti-tuition fee demonstrations together with other Munich universities and worked against them on a political and public level. It is important to note that the Student Representation did not act on their own authority. Their actions were legitimized by representative surveys, which showed that a large majority of TUM students were also in favor of abolition. The evaluation of tuition funds in 2011, which was carried out by the university itself, showed that two-thirds of TUM students were against the charge of tuition fees.
But why were so many people, not only students and their representatives, but also the Bavarian opposition parties and trade unions, against it, when it actually served to improve study conditions?
We think the financing of higher education and its continuous improvement are key tasks of the state. The moment an individual bears the financial responsibility for this privately, education becomes a luxury good that only a few can afford without taking considerable risks. Therefore, the state must ensure that all people have the same opportunities to take up and complete studies, regardless of their respective financial background. However, the amount of tuition fees was not based on the financial situation during or after the studies. According to the Studentenwerk's social survey, the existing exemption regulations primarily exempted students from financially well-off to very well-off households.
Even if, according to a survey by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research, the charge of tuition fees does not act as a deterrent to taking up studies, but tuition fees are in any case an obstacle for all those who have to earn money for this and study.
But is it really fair for society as a whole to pay for the entire studies of a few privileged people who are studying, even if they have better chances of earning money later? What about the nurse who finances the studies of her medical director's son through taxes?
The counter-question to the second question is whether it is really fair if the nurse's daughter has to pay the same amount for her studies as the son of the medical director. Why doesn't the medical director then contribute even more to the financing of education through taxes, if an imbalance is identified here? Only a fair tax system can ensure that those who earn a lot also contribute more in absolute and percentage terms to finance the education and university system. This is followed by the answer to question one. Not everyone who studies, later earns a high income. However, this is not reflected by tuition funds, which are the same for everyone.
For us, financing education is a joint task that must be borne by the whole society. It must be worth so much to society that this is willing to invest in it.