In Romania, many students end up working in parallel with college, some of them even dropping out of college, while their colleagues in other European countries can focus on studies and extracurricular activities.
Reforms in higher education in Romania are not limited to changing university regulations, but have a direct impact on students’ incomes, essential for continuing their studies.
The bursary adjustments, operated in 2025, have left many young people with insufficient financial support for current expenses: rent, food and transport. In addition, the upcoming budget cuts announced for universities risk further reducing available scholarships.
The differences with other European countries are significant. In Romania, the minimum social scholarship is 925 lei (approximately 185 euros), and the merit scholarship reaches approximately 1,100 lei (220 euros) per month, granted only during the months of teaching activity.
Comparatively, in Poland the scholarships vary between 100 and 330 euros, in Spain between 300 and 1,000 euros, and in Italy between 400 and 900 euros, often accompanied by free accommodation or meals. Austria offers scholarships of up to 923 euros, and in the Nordic countries – Sweden, Norway and Finland – support frequently exceeds 900-1,200 euros per month, in the form of grants or loans.
These discrepancies translate into constant financial pressure for Romanian students, who often have to work in parallel with the faculty and even give up the faculty, while their colleagues from other European countries can focus their time on studies and extracurricular activities.
The risk of university dropout
Radu Bolborea, the vice-president of the National Union of Students in Romania (UNOSR), explained to Euronews how young people were affected by the budget cuts and drew attention to the fact that the risk of dropping out of studies increased in direct proportion to the decrease in income.
“Let me give you some data on what the impact means. You mentioned that the scholarships are only given in the months related to the teaching activities. Well, they are also cut during the holidays during the months, so many times the scholarships end up being maybe two-thirds of their standard value or maybe even half, in extreme cases, like we have December, the month of December, which has a pretty big holiday.
We have universities where the number of scholarships has halved or where the amount has decreased quite significantly. That depends on the specifics of the university, because depending on how the scholarship was, universities could cut either their number or their value.
Who are the beneficiaries of the social scholarship? These are students whose average income per family member does not exceed the minimum net salary, that is, we are talking about some students who already have a risk of dropping out of university, from the start, and the reduction of these scholarships encourages this risk even more.
On the other hand, when we talk about performance scholarships, it’s a slightly different story. We are perhaps seeing a decline in performance in universities and a greater disinterest that students display in the educational process,” explained Radu Bolborea.
Transportation, a major issue next
Access to transportation represents another challenge for students, according to the same source.
“Regarding the current situation on transport, we now have a 90% discount on local public transport and another 90% discount on rail transport between the town of residence and the town where the university is located.
We requested 15 proposals for the budget of the Ministry of Education, among which are free local internal transport and for the route between home and college and 24 free trips per year by train. We do not believe that you should be conditioned by your financial income and the state should support you to be able to carry out your studies.
If we look at even an average train trip, the costs reach somewhere around 100 lei one way, which, at the current costs and the scholarships that are awarded at the moment, represents a significant part of these expenses and of the income that a student has, which is why we believe that this gratuity should be granted.
We come with the novelty element of 24 free trips. It is somehow a more moderate measure compared to what we have had so far, but which is meant to represent an absolute minimum from which we want to start so that students can participate in scientific, cultural, social events, etc., without being conditioned by their income” said the young man.
