Student protests in Romania

Romanian students protested against the reduction of scholarships by changing the way they are calculated

Ştefan Stoica, 27.06.2025, 13:50

Times of financial and budgetary hardship are coming, and the new coalition government has made no secret of this. There will be cuts in funding across the public sector, where last year’s excessive spending, driven by the elections, created major imbalances in the country’s finances. All Romanians will pay for this excess in one way or another; that is the starting point. Students will also pay, as the new calculation method will cut their scholarships. This is why the National Alliance of Student Organisations in Romania organised protests on Thursday in Bucharest and other major university centres against the new government’s intention to reduce the funds allocated for scholarships.

The government’s proposal to allocate 10% of the net minimum wage for each state-funded student, amounting to approximately 220 lei, or 44 euros, as opposed to the current amount of 370 lei, the equivalent of 74 euros, calculated as 10% of the gross minimum wage, would lead, according to students, to a decrease in the scholarship fund by approximately 40% and, implicitly, to a decrease in the number of beneficiaries. They point out that reducing education funding exacerbates inequalities in the education system and limits access to higher education for people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and should not be an option, regardless of the circumstances.

Reducing the budget deficit will not be solved by limiting support and inclusion mechanisms for students, they believe. Students say that even the current scholarships are insufficient:

“The scholarship we have does not even cover basic expenses. For example, it’s not enough to pay rent in Bucharest. One also has to pay for basic services, to have access to food and other services as a student. -: We have many colleagues who have to take on a second job because they cannot get by on their current scholarship. This, of course, lowers academic performance and increases university dropout rates. -: This could also set a precedent – that is, they cut our transport subsidies, now they want to cut our scholarships… What’s next?”
In response, Education Minister Daniel David stated that Romania is one of the countries providing the strongest scholarship mechanism in the public system. However, he said that, for financial reasons, it must be resized in an acceptable manner.

Daniel David: ” The reduction in the scholarship fund; sure, it’s below 2024, but it’s 10% higher than what we had in 2023. In our initial estimates at this point, however, it will be almost three times higher.”

Romania’s President Nicuşor Dan, a former international mathematics Olympian, was also asked about the reduction in the number of scholarships, this time in the pre-university system. The president has stated that the current system is unbalanced and that it is abnormal to call what 30% of students currently receive ‘merit-based’. (MI)