How to ruin a university system with one law

In 2023, Norway passed a law requiring universities to charge at-cost tuition for international students coming from outside of the EU. The move was hailed as a way to protect Norwegian educational interests and as a firmer safeguard against uncontrolled immigration. Fees averaged between two and three million ISK a year, depending on program of study.

Norway subsequently suffered an 80% drop in international students. This drop injured the reputation of Norwegian universities, stymied innovation, and kneecapped Norway’s ability to attract global talent. Turns out imposing punitive tuition removes desirable immigrants! Norway has admitted their mistake and walked it back: the tuition law will not be in effect as of August 1 of this year.

It is thus baffling that Alþingi has chosen to enact the same failed policy here in Iceland.

It is a common misconception that international students study in Iceland “for free.” The Icelandic student permit is the costliest in the Nordic region, not by the application fee (which rose from 16.000 ISK to 70.000 ISK last year) but for the requirement to support oneself financially. Iceland is currently the most expensive country in the world, and international students are not allowed to access any public money, including student loans. Iceland currently requires a student to have a minimum of 3.119.412 ISK in a bank account for a twelve-month student residence permit. This must be shown every year. The rest of the Nordics require:

• Norway: 170.368 NOK or 2.218.702 ISK
• Denmark: DKK 89.112, or 1.723.515 ISK
• Sweden: 127.872 SEK, or 1.683.300 ISK
• Finland: 9.600 euros, or 1.387.968 ISK

(All figures have been taken from the immigration websites of these countries and converted at rates available at 20 June 2026.)

The choice to become a student in Iceland already requires millionsof krónur more than moving to Sweden or Finland. Finland only requires this amount to be shown once rather than every year.

It is ambiguous as to what the new tuition fees would be, as no estimates have been posted. However, Listaháskóli Íslands currently charges between 4.500.000 and 5.500.000 ISK, depending on the course. I am floating an average estimate of 4.000.000 ISK as a potential yearly obligation, based on conversations with instructors at Háskóli Íslands about per-student funding.

The estimated upcoming tuition fees are, on average, much more expensive than in other countries. Every other country in the Nordics that charges tuition fees has a preexisting scholarship infrastructure that assists non-EEA students with tuition fees, either through individual universities, through government sponsorship, or through non-governmental foundations. Iceland does not have this infrastructure. The options that exist are now inadequate. As an example, the Leifur Eiríksson Foundation, which has since 2006 provided money for American citizens to study in Iceland (and for Icelandic students to study in America) sponsors a highly competitive scholarship of $25,000 a year, or 3.151.000 ISK. This amount just barely covers the current secure support requirement for a student residence permit. It would not make a dent in tuition.

Comparison between programs underscores the absurdity of this situation. Háskóli Íslands offers a two-year international master’s degree in Viking and Medieval Norse studies. The University of Oslo offers a similar degree. Both programs are well regarded in the field. Assume a student from a non-EEA country applies to both programs and gets into both. Iceland requires a 100.000 ISK registration fee, 3.119.412 ISK in a bank account, and an estimated 4.000.000 ISK in tuition, for a yearly financial obligation of 7.219.412 ISK. Under the soon-to-be defunct tuition law, the University of Oslo requires semester fees of approximately 12.632 ISK, 2.218.702 ISK to show secure support, and 2.656.692 in tuition, for a yearly financial obligation of 4.900.658 ISK. Over the two years of the master’s degree, Háskóli Íslands would cost 4.637.508 ISK more than the University of Oslo.

The University of Oslo is currently #113 on the Times Higher Education ranking of global universities. Háskóli Íslands is not in the top 500.

Why pay almost five million more to go to a worse university for the same degree?

As another comparison, the yearly tuition for a master’s degree in medieval studies at Yale University is $52,400 per year, or 6.604.496 ISK. Yale is ranked as the #4 university in the world.

Tuition imposition has come in tandem with a shortened post-graduate jobseeking residence permit, going from 36 months to 18 months. By comparison, Denmark offers a three-year postgraduate permit. Finland’s is two years and allows graduates to open businesses. Norway and Sweden both offer one year, but they offer paths to permanent residency for non-EEA students graduating from PhD programs. Iceland does not offer these pathways, and in fact has limited post-graduate residence permits only to certain degrees. (Which degrees? Útlendingastofnun has not made that information public.)

Why would anyone pay extra not to have the option to use their education in a country they’ve lived in for years?

Imposing tuition fees and shortening the post-graduation permit will not make Icelandic universities more competitive. These policies bar many hundreds of talented students from even considering Iceland as a viable study destination. They will not be replaced by more desirable applicants. Instead, Icelandic universities will host the children of the extremely wealthy and a flood of formerly unqualified European students. Standards will inevitably be lowered. The value of a degree taken at Háskóli Íslands or Háskólasetur Vestfjarða will plummet. The ability of Iceland to attract top talent will suffer. This will have negative implications for every part of Icelandic society, as Iceland is a small county and must inevitably draw from an outside pool of subject matter experts. Why has Alþingi decided this reality isn't relevant?

There are better ways to put safeguards on immigration than to weaken the worth of higher education and shrink the talent pool. Alþingi must accept that international students and international cooperation are an integral part of a robust higher education system. The changes pushed through are not, in fact, in line with other Nordic countries, as other Nordic countries, besides being more affordable, have realized they are unworkable.

Iceland deserves better than Norway’s failed experiments.

Colin Fisher is a PhD student in Icelandic literature at Háskóli Íslands and the incoming equal rights officer at Landssamtök Íslenskra Studenta (LÍS).