Hesse's Premier Rejects Uniform Tuition

Hesse's Christian Democratic state premier, Roland Koch, has rejected the demand from his Brandenburg Social Democratic counterpart, Matthias Platzeck, that university tuition fees be the same across the country. Koch said this would inhibit competition amongst universities. "If we want to have competition, then it doesn't make much sense to me to have a uniform tuition," he told the newsmagazine Focus. After last week's court ruling that tuition fees are indeed constitutional, Platzeck called for fees to be the same at all universities. He has said he will speak with fellow Social Democratic state premiers to develop a common plan for socially responsible tuitions that are equal everywhere. Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber told the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily that the fees must not necessarily be introduced in fall 2005 and that Bavaria would work closely with the other states to develop a system of fees.