Important Information on Tuition Fees for Artsakh Students: Nairi Hokhikyan

Journalist Nairi Hokhikyan wrote on his Telegram channel: “Important information regarding tuition fees for Artsakh students: On November 16, 2023, I sent an official inquiry to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, emphasizing the necessity for compensation of tuition fees for students displaced from Artsakh and requesting answers to the following questions among others:

3. Has the Armenian government undertaken partial or full subsidization of tuition fees for citizens of the Republic of Artsakh?

4. Has the Armenian government developed a program to establish benefits for citizens of the Republic of Artsakh regarding their tuition fees, considering the consequences of their forced displacement and social conditions?

In response, on November 22, 2023, I received the following reply signed by the Secretary of the Higher Education and Science Committee of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports:

“The Armenian government, by decision No. 1762-L dated October 12, 2023, has approved the procedure for granting scholarships for fully or partially compensating tuition fees for students forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh from September 19, 2023, for the 2023-2024 academic year, along with the maximum amounts of scholarships based on educational programs or degrees. According to the regulations, scholarships will be provided to students in state educational institutions conducting preliminary vocational (craft) and higher education programs. The scholarships, according to the contract signed between the student and the educational institution, will be transferred to the institution to cover the tuition fees for the 2023-2024 academic year. The maximum amounts of scholarships will be calculated based on average tuition fees set for those educational programs in state educational institutions, not exceeding 700,000 drams for undergraduate programs and 560,000 drams for master's programs. Therefore, depending on the choice of university, the granted scholarship may be sufficient for full compensation of tuition fees. Based on this decision, it is expected that approximately 660 million drams will be allocated from the state budget for 2023 and 1.325 billion drams for 2024.”

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports has directed state universities to integrate students forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh into the educational process, based on the students' presented and currently available information, regardless of the presence of necessary documentation. Furthermore, the aforementioned decision stipulates that certain provisions of the existing regulations on student transfers will not apply in the case of displaced students. For instance, restrictions on transfers from the first and last years of study are not applicable, and a more flexible procedure is provided for compensating credit differences in accordance with an individual plan.

Immediately following this statement, on November 23 at noon, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports announced during a government meeting that a scholarship of 440 million drams is being allocated for the tuition fees of 1,836 students displaced from Artsakh for the first semester of the 2023-24 academic year. An additional 402 million drams is allocated for the tuition fees of 2,524 college students.

I consider the government’s response regarding the subsidy of tuition fees for Artsakh students to be important. Dear people of Artsakh, please read carefully the details provided in the response I received from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, so that you can legally defend your rights and receive allocations for tuition fees from the state budget.”