Freeloading on student benefits

– You don’t have to be a quantum physicists to see that there’s a lot of money to be saved by doing this, says «Kristian», who has enrolled in a 1000 course at the centre for Middle East and North-Africa studies.

Numbers from the University of Oslo (UiO) show that 2 out of 10 students did not take any student credits during the spring semester of 2006. The numbers did not include students who studied part-time or were doing their main subjects, doctorates or master degrees. Still, 1552 of the students enrolled at the University did not take a single study point during the past three semesters.

– A handful of these have legitimate reasons, but the number indicates that most of them are freeloaders, says Monica Bakken, Director of Academic Affairs at the University of Oslo.

According to Bakken, legitimate reasons can be parental leave, illness or courses that only give out credit once a year. But she asserts that the exceptions are few.

– The situation sends out undesirable signals to the real students who see people registering in order to freeload. It not only has a destructive effect, but fills up courses with limited space, keeping real students from attending.

– Cynical

Bakken receives support for her views by Lina Johanne Strand, leader of the Student Parliament (SP).

– It is cynical and unfair to the real students. The number is high, and if it is real then this must be a problem to the University. It's something that must be addressed right now, says Strand.

– Bakken feels that even though freeloading has become more difficult after the Quality Reform, it is questionable that there are no way to sanction the stowaways.

– You have to put a bit more effort into freeloading than before, but it is impossible to shut out people who want to take advantage of the system, she says.

Two years ago, there was a person who’d been registered for the 37. semester in a row without ever taking a single study point. If that person’s still registered, this will be his or her 41. semester without study points.

Neither the leader of the student welfare body The Velferdsting (VT), Øyvind Gjengaar, nor Strand from SP want to make things harder for freeloaders if it means that innocent students are harmed.

– The Velferdsting doesn’t want to make it harder for students to take part in student benefits. It is more important to have accessible services than to be a control regime. Student counselling and medical services such as psychiatry and psychology, especially, ought to have a low threshold, says Gjengaar, and adds that in return there ought to be more control when it comes to day nursery places and student housing.