By Aisha Labi

The Swedish government announced on Friday that, beginning in the fall of 2011, foreign students from outside the European Union, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland will be charged tuition at Swedish universities.

As is still the case in a handful of other European countries, including much of Germany, tuition at public universities in Sweden is free and fully subsidized through taxes, with no distinction made for foreign students. Like a growing number of institutions in non-English-speaking European countries, Swedish universities have begun to offer more courses and degree programs in English, in part to attract foreign students. The number of foreign students in Sweden has tripled in the past decade, and foreigners now account for 8 percent of the enrollment of around 350,000.

The controversial and long-anticipated move, which was immediately criticized by the chairman of Sweden's main student group after the announcement on Friday, could have a short-term impact on Sweden's attractiveness as a study destination for foreign students, the government acknowledged. In the long term, however, the change will strengthen Swedish universities, in part by allowing them to be more strategic in their recruitment of foreign students, the government said of the new policy.

"These days, education is a global market," Tobias Krantz, the minister for higher education and research, said in a written statement. "Sweden should compete in this market by offering education of high quality, not by offering a free education."

"By no longer offering everyone—including those who are able to pay—free education," he continued, "we will now be able to give special attention to students from countries with which we have development cooperation and to particularly gifted students. This is a much more efficient way of using Swedish taxpayers' money."

Individual institutions will be free to set their own tuition levels, "based on the principle of full-cost coverage," the government said. Education-ministry officials have in the past said that rates could average around $10,000 per year, according to The Local, an online newspaper.

Along with the new tuition policy, which will apply only to students beginning their studies in 2011, the government announced the introduction of two new grant programs intended to partly offset the impact of the new fees. The first, backed with $4-million and distributed through the Swedish Institute, a public organization that promotes Swedish culture and education, will cover living costs and tuition for highly qualified students from developing countries. The second will cover tuition but not living costs for qualified students from all over the world, and will be distributed by the higher-education institutions where the students study.